5 boldest moves during the Carolina Panthers 2021 offseason
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers drafted Jaycee Horn
Once Teddy Bridgewater had been moved, some sections of the team’s fanbase saw this as the perfect opportunity to land a franchise quarterback in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Even though the Carolina Panthers secured the services of Sam Darnold from the New York Jets.
These calls grew louder when Justin Fields fell out of the top-five and right into their laps at No. 8 overall. Carolina had their own ideas, selecting a potential shutdown cornerback in Jaycee Horn instead.
Few would argue this wasn’t a position of need. The Panthers found life incredibly difficult getting off the field on third down in 2020 and they could ill-afford the same complications to surface in the second year of Matt Rhule’s tenure.
Horn could change all that in an instant. The South Carolina product is physically imposing, athletic, aggressive, and explosive enough to cope with even the sternest challenges awaiting him at the next level.
More importantly, Horn is not afraid of the big moment.
If Darnold fails and Fields shines on the Chicago Bears, then the selection might go down as an error in judgment even if Horn goes on to become a Pro Bowl-caliber corner pretty quickly.
The rookie can only worry about things he can control. Horn will get plenty of responsibility right from the word go and how he copes will go a long way to determining whether Carolina can be successful in 2021.