Carolina Panthers: 2013 NFL Draft do-over (5 rounds)
By Josh Linares
Pick Analysis. OL . DAVIDBAKHTIARI. 108. player. Scouting Report. COLORADO BOULDER. 87
Carolina Panthers Pick No. 108: David Bakhtiari over Edmund Kugbila
With the 108th pick in the draft, the Carolina Panthers decided to try and boost the offensive line by selecting Valdosta State guard Edmund Kugbila. It wound up being a terrible pick.
Kugbila suffered a strained hamstring and just couldn’t shake the injury so he was placed on injured reserve to rehab and come back the following season.
Heading into the 2014 season Kugbila was looking to make his NFL debut, but it didn’t happen. He suffered a serious back injury that required surgery and missed the entire 2014 season.
Kugbila was cut before the 2015 season after appearing in no games in his two years with the Panthers. It’s impossible to say what the lineman could have done because he hasn’t been in the league since. Just another young talent held back by injury.
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The Panthers were right to draft an offensive lineman with this pick but they should have passed on the injury-prone guard and went with the future All-Pro tackle.
Right after the Panthers selected Kugbila with the 108th pick, the Green Bay Packers used the 109th pick to select Colorado product David Bakhtiari. One of the best picks the franchise has made in recent history.
Bakhtiari was thrown into the fire right away starting at left tackle as Aaron Rodgers’ blindside protector in his rookie season. He started all 16 games and played really well.
Ever since that solid rookie season, Bakhtiari has been the Packers star and leader of their offensive line. He had a great first three years in Green Bay, but it was in 2016 when he established himself as one of the best linemen in football.
Bakhtiari made the Pro Bowl and has improved every year since. He leads the league with more than 1,200 pass-blocking snaps and has only allowed an insane 3.4 percent of pressure on those snaps.
These past two seasons have been the best of Bakhtiari’s career and he was named First-Team All-Pro in 2018 and made his second Pro Bowl this past season. The Packers definitely don’t have any second thoughts about drafting Bakhtiari.