The Panthers, coming off a 5-11 season, selected all defensive players in their class, and came out with a couple studs.
Derrick Brown was selected with the seventh overall pick and has been the advertised monster in the middle of a defensive line. An every game starter, Brown has been getting better and better every year and has been in the top 10 PFF grades the last two seasons. He played well enough to get his fifth-year option picked up. He was named to his first Pro Bowl this past season and he’ll have plenty more to come.
Yetur Gross-Matos hasn’t quite turned into the player is was projected to be with only 13 sacks in four seasons, but he hasn’t been that bad. His PFF grades are league average, and he’s still a young player with over 2,000 snaps played.
Jeremy Chinn was a rookie phenom, finishing second in DROY voting, but his production has slipped each season. His first two seasons were very good, but he missed six games in 2022 with a hamstring injury, then five in 2023 with a quad injury. He also saw a drastically decreased role last season in which he only played 39% of snaps and lost his starting job when he returned from injury. It seemed more like a scheme fit rather than lack of ability, so Chinn is likely headed elsewhere so he can be the hybrid linebacker/safety that he excelled in early in his career.
Troy Pride played in 14 games as a rookie with eight starts, but missed his second season with injury and was released the following offseason. He’s since spent time with the Saints, Raiders and currently with the Texans. Kenny Robinson was notably drafted as the first XFL player drafted in the NFL. He spent three seasons with the team, bouncing between the active roster and practice squad, and is currently in the UFL.
Bravvion Roy was a rotational defensive tackle for three seasons with 15 career starts in 45 games playing 30-40% of snaps. He was released last offseason and spent the year on the Ravens practice squad. Stantley Thomas-Oliver was mainly a special teamer for three seasons before getting released in 2023 and spent most of the year on the Giants practice squad.
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