4 players the Carolina Panthers could have picked instead of Jaycee Horn
By Jason Huber
Carolina Panthers could have picked Patrick Surtain II
This one is tough because if Jaycee Horn stayed healthy, he might’ve had just as good of a rookie season as Patrick Surtain II did for the Denver Broncos.
Personally, I wanted the Carolina Panthers to draft Surtain over Horn during last year’s draft. But it was a toss-up either way and both are sure to be tremendous players for many years to come.
As we know, Horn had his rookie season cut short and Surtain had a great campaign, improving each week and being named to the PFWA All-Rookie team.
The former Alabama stud finished his rookie season with four interceptions and helped Denver form a scary secondary. Carolina obviously had Horn higher on its draft board than Surtain, but it would’ve been nice to see that success with the Panthers this year alongside the likes of Donte Jackson and Stephon Gilmore.
Fortunately, Horn will be back and has the chance to easily prove me wrong that he’s better at the cornerback position than Surtain. If not, this one will be tough to swallow for quite some time.
The Panthers only got a small sample size from Horn, so it’s hard to gauge for sure just how things will evolve moving forward. However, the Broncos can relax safe in the knowledge Surtain has the consistency over an entire season to become a real force.