Verge's Draft Grades

[Verge]

First I wanted to thank all of you who follow my content and engage in dialogue, I am still learning all the ins and outs of scouting, and having feedback like that helps immensely. I wanted to let you know, this may be the last year I have an inside source, as my friend may choose to pursue his the field he has an education in (sports medicine), but I will keep you updated on that come next year. It's always a lot of fun to turn on the tape of these players, come to my own conclusion about them, and see where it matches between fans and an actual NFL professional, its usually right in between. I look forward to making another thread with the majority of my own opinions next year. 

Without further ado, here are my draft grades for the Carolina Panthers. 

1). Derrick Brown, DT, AUB 97/100 grade: A+
 

I think the proper term for our draft would be 'Setting the tone' and the one player who represents that more than anyone else is Derrick Brown. Being able to sit there at 7 and end up with the third best player in the draft, one that fills a need is a blessing, and the impact he will have on our defense cannot be overstated. Numerous times I watched Brown swallow up entire gaps, constantly command double/triple teams, and swat SEC offensive line to the side like flies. We all saw the play where he picked up a LSU guard and throw him into Joe Burrow, that guard will absolutely start at the next level, not that it mattered to Derrick. He will command similar attention at the NFL level, you simply cannot put one man on him and expect it to work, he is like a juiced up Star. He won't command 10+ sacks, but everyone around him might. He will be the player on our defense that offense will have to game plan against. Love the pick, love the player, and love his personality. 

2.) Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, PNN 89/100 grade: A+ 


This is not a guy I had falling to the first round, once I saw him drop to the 2nd round I still did not think there was a chance we would nab him, I even thought we might try and trade up for him. I was ecstatic when he got to us because I was certain he would be the pick once he fell to us (I'm finding out why this afternoon), he was my second favorite edge in a 4-3 in this draft. Yetur was constantly in every backfield that I watched him play against, he always set his edge and I didn't often see him get pushed off his spot. He also is dynamic as a rusher, with all the physical tools needed to develop into a seriously effective edge rusher that can take over a game in the mold of Carlos Dunlap or Ziggy Ansah. Only thing I saw hold him back on tape was his processing speed and rawness, which should be corrected with good coaching. 

3.) Jeremy Chinn, DEF, SI 84/100 grade: A


You want versatility? That's what you get with Chinn, pick a spot on the defense and he can probably play it. I imagine he will plug in at linebacker for sub packages, play nickel from time to time, and his regular position will probably sit down as a in the box safety, it would be inappropriate to really label his position. He will be on the football field somewhere on every defensive play for us, and add an excellent chess piece to contain Gronk, or punish the short game. 

4.) Troy Pride, CB, ND 79/100 grade: B


I'll be honest, I didn't do much studying on Pride, I did not have the time to scout everybody so the moment we drafted him I turned on a few games, and read a few reports on him. I come away with a very positive impression. Pride was a sprinter in high school and college, and that shows up on tape for him with impressive long speed as well as an ability to shut down the majority of vertical routes ran against him -cough julio jones cough-. Definitely not the most physical corner in the world, struggles putting his athletic gift into a more refined role, and he is not very aggressive. He will start right away for us, and hopefully work through some bumps and bruises to put it all together. The potential is all there. 

5.) Kenny Robinson, S, WV/XFL 81/100 grade: A+
 

I didn't look too much into his XFL tape as that is pretty hard to get a good grasp on as far as talent level, he was obviously the best player on his defense and a play making force. However, his WV tape was pretty eye opening. When watching him, his play making style reminds one of Justin Simmons or Earl Thomas, and can shut down a deep side of the field in the same regard. He absolutely needs to work on the angles he takes in pursuit in tackling, but otherwise is an immediate starter at free safety. Maybe the steal of the draft, he projected in the 2nd round if he would have stayed in school. 


I will watch some more tape on our other two defensive draft picks, and hopefully I will like what I see. All in all, from what I was able to evaluate, we won this draft in a big way, and the defense will begin to flourish because of it. 

[Shocker]

Nice avatar dog!  Appreciate all the info

 

[ecu88]

The only thing I wanted in this draft that I did not get was Robinson II DB from Tulsa, we drafted Pride Jr instead. Cowgirls nabbed him after we got Pride Jr eh

[WarPanthers89]

[*FreeFua*]

On obvious passing down I’m kicking Yetur inside. He absolutely destroys guards. As we continue to build our D his versatility will make a huge difference.

If Matt Rhule can get the effort out of him (he lacks consistency there) he has all the tools to be a dominant 3 down player. 

I’m really excited about this kid. 

[Mother Grabber]

we shoulda drafted a punter in the 1st, since I've heard we're going to suck so hard

[Jorgie]

The only thing that could’ve made this draft any better was somehow snagging James Lynch too.. he’s a big boy

[45catfan]

1 hour ago, ecu88 said:

The only thing I wanted in this draft that I did not get was Robinson II DB from Tulsa, we drafted Pride Jr instead. Cowgirls nabbed him after we got Pride Jr eh

He was the enigma of this draft.  I was pretty high on him too, but what worried me was how hot and cold he ran from evaluator to evaluator.  ESPN did not have him ranked at all on their draft day board.  I saw BBs with him going 3rd round to UDFA.  The size was there, but something spooked some folks.  Not sure what it was.

Pride Junior, on the other hand, was solidly projected about where we took him.  His biggest knock is physicality.  That can be worked on.  Otherwise, all the tools are there.

[*FreeFua*]

1 hour ago, Verge said:

3.) Jeremy Chinn, DEF, SI 84/100 grade: A


You want versatility? That's what you get with Chinn, pick a spot on the defense and he can probably play it. I imagine he will plug in at linebacker for sub packages, play nickel from time to time, and his regular position will probably sit down as a in the box safety, it would be inappropriate to really label his position. He will be on the football field somewhere on every defensive play for us, and add an excellent chess piece to contain Gronk, or punish the short game. 

4.) Troy Pride, CB, ND 79/100 grade: B


I'll be honest, I didn't do much studying on Pride, I did not have the time to scout everybody so the moment we drafted him I turned on a few games, and read a few reports on him. I come away with a very positive impression. Pride was a sprinter in high school and college, and that shows up on tape for him with impressive long speed as well as an ability to shut down the majority of vertical routes ran against him -cough julio jones cough-. Definitely not the most physical corner in the world, struggles putting his athletic gift into a more refined role, and he is not very aggressive. He will start right away for us, and hopefully work through some bumps and bruises to put it all together. The potential is all there. 

•Go watch Chinn’s game against AJ Brown from 2018. Chinn does a really nice job on him when matched up. 
 

•Pride Jr does a really solid job on Pittman Jr in the ND/USC game from this year. Pittman had 4/29 with 3 of those coming in screens. Pride carried over his solid performance on Pittman into the senior bowl in their 1 v 1’s as well. 
 

 

[stbugs]

1 hour ago, Jorgie said:

The only thing that could’ve made this draft any better was somehow snagging James Lynch too.. he’s a big boy

Don’t be shocked if he’s available at some point, maybe pilfer from PS. The Vikings drafted like 51 players it seemed. I’d think that was a good place for him to land to potentially snag later. They can’t possibly be able to add all those guys onto the roster.

[JARROD]

B,.. but I didn’t scout the player... A+,.. but all I did was watch a couple of XFL plays,..

everyone should do everyone a favor and never ever click ads from hack writers.... that is what pays them.

you click,.. just means you just paid them to write more garbage.

[musicman]

I'm very happy with the draft and the potential is there almost across all the picks to be a great draft in making this defense solid again. 

[saX man]

The team’s IG account was all about the Robinson pick. He truly looks like a steal. Pride may have speed bumps but we definitely crushed it. Excited for all these guys.

[sml1950]

One reason why YGM (and others) dropped was due to the combine being in prime time, running late into the night and having players leave before they ran the 40.  They thought they would run at their pro day but most were cancelled.  Rhule said that because he recruited him out of HS, he had those numbers and was more comfortable than others may have been.  He also said that Roy was a steal for a similar reason.  He had no 40  time but Rhule had timed him at Baylor in 4.8 which at 330 was faster than almost everyone at 300.