Carolina Panthers Rookie Report
by Ljdubzero 3 years ago
Carolina Rookie Report
1st Round, Pick 8: Jaycee Horn
Jaycee Horn has been playing really well so far this season despite his place on the depth chart. He leads the team in picks and deflections and is tied for 2nd in the league among rookie CB’s in picks and is tied for first in deflections among the group as well. Panthers DB coach has said “Having such great vets in front of him ahas allowed him to grow as a player without the pressure of matching up against #1 WRs.” The way Horn is playing right now, he’s going to be special sooner rather than later, a true star in the making.
2nd round, Pick 59: Terrace Marshall
Terrace Marshall has had a solid start to his rookie campaign with 15 catches for 217 yards and 4 TD’s. He’s really excelled as a red zone threat with his 6’3” 200 pound frame. He was thrown into the fire as WR2 after the shocking trade of Robby Anderson early in the season. As the season goes on, he’ll continue to become more comfortable and make bigger plays for this team between the 20’s. Watch out for him as the season gets going and he has more of a chance to shine as DJ gets more attention.
3rd round, Pick 70: Brady Christensen
Christensen is currently starting at RT and has had some growing pains thus far allowing 2 sacks through 5 games, but is showing a lot of promise on 204 snaps. The offense has struggled a bit on the ground with him not being a great run blocker but that’ll come with the experience he’s getting. His footwork in pass blocking has been solid and he hasn’t allowed many pressures. As the season goes on he’ll continue to get better as he gets more acclimated to the NFL game.
4th Round, Pick 126: Chuba Hubbard
Chuba Hubbard hasn’t had much to ride home about just yet, he’s only gotten 2 carries and has -1 yards on the ground to go along with 1 catch for 5 yards. As the season goes on look for him to be involved more in the offense and hopefully we see the explosive plays we saw from him at Oklahoma State.
5th Round, Pick 158: Daviyon Nixon
Daviyon was thrown into a DT1 role without any expectations as he replaced Derrick Brown after he broke his ribs. He has played serviceable but it is very apparent he still needs time to grow. He’s gotten 3 TFL’s with no sacks just yet. Missing some of the best players in this front 7 probably play a big role but with Brian Burns coming back in a couple of weeks and Derrick Brown coming back the week after, he should get back to DT2 and have a bette chance at continuing to get better.
5th Round Pick, Pick 166: Keith Taylor
Taylor hasn’t gotten the chance to contribute at all yet although he managed to make the 53 man roster. As he continues to improve maybe he can be the tall physical corner that this team plays in spots similar to Bouye currently.
6th Round Pick, Pick 193: Deonte Brown
Brown has been exactly what we knew he’d be, very effective in the power run game. Brown is a strong physical guard that needs to continue to develop. He has done well so far against DT’s like Quinnen Williams and Fletcher Cox. Hopefully he’ll get better but he’s been serviceable to this point.
6th Round, Pick 204: Shi Smith
Smith has been one of the better rookie WR’s to this point in the season ranking 3rd in Yards and also having 3 TD’s to go along with it. With his production he has proven to be a great value pick with 162 YAC yards and all of this on only 13 catches. Smith is big time playmaker in this offense and has done well in the slot. He’ll continue to make waves as long as he’s getting his touches. He also only has 1 drop to this point so we’ll see as the season unfolds if he can keep up the production and if so, watch out because we may have a star in the making.
6th Round, Pick 222: Thomas Fletcher
Was cut with Stephen Sullivan becoming the long snapper
7th Round, Pick 232: Phil Hoskins
Made the practice squad due to the depth in front of him, just not enough room on the roster for him.