4 reasons securing Matt Corral was the steal of the 2022 draft

Three QBs were taken before the Carolina Panthers selected Matt Corral

Call it luck, a calculated risk, or knowing what was happening before it did. But the Carolina Panthers had their guy fall after three other quarterbacks were taken.

Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder, and Malik Willis were all taken before Matt Corral was selected. Carolina likely was content coming out of the draft with any of those three, but as mentioned earlier, the Ole Miss product was the top signal-caller on their board.

The fact Corral fell to being selected as the fourth player at his position is very fortunate. And another lucky turn of events for Carolina is that they got him where they did near the end of the third round.

The Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Indianapolis Colts all had chances in the first three rounds to take a quarterback for the future that all of them may need.

But all seven of them passed on Corral and the other prospects.

That also played a large role in Corral slipping enough for the Panthers to trade up and get him. Washington was the only team that took a quarterback after Corral was taken, selecting Sam Howell from North Carolina.

Any of the top five signal-callers selected would have brought competition and a chance at being the Panthers’ guy under center. But new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo knew who he wanted for his offense – and he was confident that Corral would be a perfect fit.