It's fair to say the folks over at Pro Football Focus are fans of Carolina's 2019 draft class. Big fans.
PFF gave the class an "excellent" grade, and William Moy provided further analysis of the selections.
Moy wrote that general manager Marty Hurney "looks to have nailed it once again" by picking Florida State edge rusher Brian Burns with the 16th overall pick.
"Burns is a special athlete who possesses a bend (and a spin move) that can win on the outside against anybody," Moy wrote. "Among 47 draft-eligible FBS edge defenders who rushed the quarterback at least 300 times last season, he ranked second with a 90.6 pass-rushing grade and his 19.7% pass-rush win rate ranked fifth."
Continuing on the edge rush theme, Moy turned his attention to Carolina's fourth-round selection, Christian Miller from Alabama.
"Carolina ranked 25th as a team last season with a pressure rate of just 19.7% generated from their edge defenders. Spending a first-round pick on a stud like Burns and a fourth-round pick on an upside player like Miller at such a critical area of the field made complete sense for the Panthers," Moy wrote.
As for offensive tackle Greg Little, the second-round pick from Ole Miss, PFF gave him high marks.
"Over the past two seasons, Little allowed just 27 total pressures across 993 pass-blocking snaps, and over that stretch, he led all draft-eligible SEC tackles with an 87.4 pass-blocking grade," Moy wrote.
PFF is also very intrigued by what quarterback Will Grier can bring to the table. The third-round pick from West Virginia was ranked 24th on their big board.
"Grier finished 2018 as our second-highest graded draft-eligible FBS quarterback with a 91.1 overall grade, and he tied with former Missouri quarterback Drew Lock with an NCAA-leading 33 big-time throws. Grier is loaded with upside as a developmental backup for Cam Newton."
