What do the Carolina Panthers have at cornerback in 2021?
By Will Burns
Jaycee Horn and Keith Taylor – Carolina Panthers rookie CBs
In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers made it imperative to try and improve the secondary. They selected cornerback Jaycee Horn with the No. 8 overall selection and picked another cornerback, Keith Taylor Jr., at No. 166 on Day 3.
Horn was arguably the best corner in the draft and will compete for the No. 1 job when the Panthers take the field against the New York Jets in their season opener.
He has great size, speed, length, agility, and ball skills. These are traits you definitely want to see in a starting corner.
Horn also a good tackler for a corner and loves to be physical. It’s easy to see why the Panthers thought so highly of him out of South Carolina.
Taylor will probably never reach Horn’s level of talent. But he’s still a very solid addition to the cornerback room.
His best asset is his ability to jam at the line scrimmage with his lengthy arms. Taylor leaves a lot to be desired with his ball instincts, but even then he will provide solid depth for the Panthers, who desperately need it.
Both of these picks will immediately help Carolina in an area they struggled with last season, man coverage. Horn and Taylor possess the ability to press and lock down a receiver. There are too many good wideouts in the NFC South to not be good in this area of the field.
These two rookies will go a long way in fixing the secondary for years to come if both reach their expected ceiling.