Before the cards are turned in and phone calls are made announcing selections, draft picks begin as prospects studied for months by scouts entrusted with finding and evaluating top college talent.
It starts early in the summer with pinpointing top players in each scout’s region and watching game tape on those prospects. Campus visits start in August to watch players at practice and talk to coaches to get background information (2-3 of these happen during the fall). After the season they’ll attend All-Star games like the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Bowl, which will be first time scouts will have an opportunity to speak with prospects one-on-one, followed by the NFL Combine and team visits. It’s an extensive process aimed at getting the pick in April right.
Here’s what Panthers area scouts said about their lead prospects who were drafted.
Monroe Freeling (Corey Fuller, Southeast Scout)
“It’s hard not to see what stood out. The size. The athleticism. The play strength. The intelligence. He’s just a great human being overall. His love for the game jumps off when you talk to him. He’s sitting up. He’s talking. He’s jittery. He’s bouncing. Coming from a program like Georgia, he obviously has the toughness and grittiness. I’ve watched this kid get coached hard at multiple practices that I’ve been to the last two years and it doesn’t phase him. He’s always ready for the next rep. Just a stand up kid.”
Lee Hunter (Caden McCloughan, Southwest Scout)
“When you see Lee the first thing that stands out is how big he is. He’s a massive human being. You get up on him and it’s hard not to think about what that would look like next to Derrick Brown and Bobby Brown. I had a lot of chances to interact with him and others who were close to him and I remember being excited after every one of those. How people talked about him. How great of a guy he is. How much energy he brings. He’s a guy who truly loves football. It’s hard to find guys who look like that physically and have the make up that he does – being a great teammate, showing up to work excited everyday and caring about others. He’s just as excited when someone else is making a play. I think at the end of the day there are so many cool qualities he’s going to bring to our team and locker room.”
Chris Brazzell (Jordan Trgovac, Mid Atlantic Scout)
“The speed is what jumps out to you right away, but the combination of speed, size and body control that he shows all over the field. It’s not just that he can take the top off and be a vertical threat, it’s that when he’s down deep he’s a guy who Bryce can throw up to. He’s got a large catch radius. He can go up and catch those balls over the defensive backs, be able to come down and and keep his feet on the ground. If you watch the Georgia game, where he absolutely popped off, he made some amazing catches down there and it’s something that completely opens up our offense. He’s been doing that from this time at Tulane and then at Tennessee.”
Will Lee (Caden McCloughan, Southwest Scout)
“His confidence was one of my favorite things about him. You can see it on the field too. It’s hard to find guys with size and length like that who can move like that. You’re betting on those traits to work in any type of scheme. The instincts and the feel for the game he has, when you see things like that in a prospect it makes you feel pretty confident that he’s going to be able to have success whether you’re asking him to play off, press or whatever it may be.”
Sam Hecht (Caden McCloughan, Southwest Scout)
“He’s never been the biggest guy, so I think he’s always had to really work on his technique and be good with his hands and angles. The athletic ability he has helps a lot. He moves really well laterally. He can get up to the second level. He plays well in space. He has the ability to see things, to anticipate and when the picture changes he’s never stressed or out of sorts. He always knows where to go. The combination of his athletic ability, technique, being so good with his hands and angles, and smarts make him the player he is.”
Zakee Wheatley (Kaleb Leach, Northeast Scout)
“This is a dude who’s a dog. He loves the game of football and he plays it the right way. He’s one of them one’s – as the kids would say. He’ll go down and put his face on somebody. He has elite ball skills. He sees the game before everybody else and he’s so reactive and instinctual. It’s special. He has a presence to him when he’s on the field and in the meeting room that you’re like – I don’t know exactly who you are yet, but I want to know more.”
