5 silent assassins the Carolina Panthers could draft in 2022
By Dean Jones
Aztecs . CAMERON THOMAS. 4. player. 901. . DE
Carolina Panthers could draft Cameron Thomas
- Defensive End | San Diego State
Letting Haason Reddick leave for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency after his 11-sack campaign was a calculated risk by the Carolina Panthers. It remains to be seen whether it’s one that will pay off or be added to a long list of big regrets under the current regime.
More responsibility will be on the likes of Brian Burns, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Marquis Haynes to provide the pressure needed coming off the edge. But acquiring another pass-rusher at some stage during the 2022 NFL Draft will be among their top priorities, one suspects.
Cameron Thomas is an intriguing individual that comes with enormous upside. His final season at San Diego State propelled the defensive end into NFL consideration, with 20.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, and 71 sacks ensuring there was plenty of momentum heading into the evaluation process.
Thomas was a big fish in a small pond in college. This saw plenty of double and even triple-teams come his way consistently, so putting up numbers such as this with so much attention from opposing protection schemes is no mean feat whatsoever.
There is a real conviction to Thomas’ play finishing and he is versatile enough to slot in at multiple alignments. Although his explosiveness isn’t top-tier, if the prospect is still sitting around on Day 3 then the Panthers could strike.