3 winners and 3 losers from the Carolina Panthers 2022 NFL Draft
By Jason Huber
Matt Corral – Carolina Panthers QB
Only one quarterback was selected in the first round of this year’s draft and the second, Malik Willis, wasn’t chosen until the third round. It was a very weak class and because of that, many of the top guys fell.
However, the Carolina Panthers desperately needed to make a trade or draft a quarterback and they decided to take a gamble by making their move to secure the services of Matt Corral.
Instead of trading for Cleveland Browns’ signal-caller Baker Mayfield, Carolina took the Ole Miss product that was regarded by some as the best prospect in this draft class.
Corral’s stock fell due to his admission to dealing with alcoholism and depression. But the Panthers decided to overlook that and were right to do so, too.
Even though Corral wasn’t a first-round or second-round pick like many projected, he’s a winner in this situation because he gets to go to a team where he has a real shot at winning the starting job.
There will be a learning curve for Corral and it might take him some time to adjust to the NFL. But by competing with Sam Darnold, all he has to do is show why he was once a top prospect and it shouldn’t be a hard job to get.
Darnold will probably get another shot but once he inevitably starts struggling, Corral has to step up.