7 pros and cons to the Carolina Panthers drafting Carson Strong in 2022
By Brian Emory
Improving accuracy
Claiming that Carson Strong’s most impressive feature is his arm would be unanimously agreed upon throughout the NFL Draft community. But that doesn’t mean he’s not able to also work the ball throughout the short and intermediate areas.
Strong spent three seasons as the starting quarterback in Reno. From the start, flashes of his enormous arm were on display. But his accuracy saw a substantial increase from his sophomore year to his junior and senior years, completing 63.4 percent of his passes as a sophomore.
This is far from an embarrassing mark, but also not quite what the Wolfpack needed to maximize the potential of Jay Norvell’s air-raid offense.
During Strong’s junior and senior seasons, his completion percentage jumped to 70 percent. This stat is far from a perfect measure in terms of evaluating a quarterback’s accuracy, but this increase does demonstrate some improvement in this area.
When watching the film, it’s easy to see increased confidence and moxie from Strong when working the pocket. He’s had to learn how to take some velocity off some of his shorter passes. Coming to the realization that not every throw has to be a missile signaled an important development in the prospect’s maturity as a passer.
The Carolina Panthers passing attack has suffered from serious accuracy issues this year, especially on deep routes. Those flaws aren’t all on the quarterback, but if Matt Rhule is serious about finding an upgrade in the draft, Strong presents an enticing ability to attack all levels of the field.