There’s Been a Trade…
By John White
After taking Stewart with the 13th pick, the Carolina Panthers traded up to the 19th overall pick with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Panthers paid a high price to move up to take Otah – next year’s first-round pick along with a second from this year’s draft (43rd) and fourth-round pick from this year’s draft (109th).
And when the pick came in…
Jeff Otah, OT, Pittsburgh, 6’6″, 340 lbs.
I have seen mock drafts with Otah listed higher than this. In fact, there were a number of mocks in which Otah went to the Panthers at number 13. I’m feeling pretty good about this pick. Otah has been listed by many scouts as the third-best offensive tackle in the draft behind Jake Long and Ryan Clady.
He’s been called everything from a road grader to a bit of a project.
Otah is a big man. He’s likely being penciled in as a starter to allow Jordan Gross and Travelle Wharton to man both of the left-side positions.
Here are some scouting reports on Jeff Otah:
I gotta admit, I like how this draft is taking shape for the Panthers. But this was a high price to pay to move back into round one. If the team is that close to winning a lot of games, it’s still not a good idea to mortgage the future to move back into round one to take a guy like Otah. I like the kid but…WOW!