The Carolina Panthers were live to the New Orleans Saints’ draft plans, making their second-round selection specifically to beat their rivals.
The Panthers had an impressive draft weekend, landing quality and quantity across the seven rounds.
What they did in the second round was straight up cold.
On the clock with the No. 59 pick, Carolina was all ready to go offensive line with Brady Christensen. Then they found out what the Saints planned to do and changed the plan.
This is all according to an “Inside The Draft Room” piece penned by Darin Gantt for Panthers.com.
Christensen was probably going to be the guy at 59, and there was a deal cooking that could have moved them back on the clock within a few spots to take LSU wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr.. Marshall was quickly becoming one of those guys whose name was beginning to stick out on the board, with not much space above him, but a lot of space below at his position. He was becoming a value guy. Then someone got a call that the Saints were about to take Marshall 60th overall, and the Panthers shifted gears, taking Marshall in the 59th spot instead.
That’s some beautiful gamesmanship right there.
The Panthers stuck it the Saints and got their man
On the one hand, the Panthers got a guy they were looking at taking in any case. On the other hand, they were able to stick it to a rival by grabbing exactly the player they wanted. Instead of seeing Marshall twice a season, Carolina will get to deploy him against New Orleans.
Best of all, Christensen was still available for Carolina to trade up for at No. 70. As far as draft scenarios go, this one resulted in the best of both worlds.
Quarterback Sam Darnold benefitted from both moves, that’s for sure.
Moves like that which gave the Panthers nearly universal praise for their draft haul this year.
The Saints recovered by using the 60th pick on Pete Werner from Ohio State. They also added Houston defensive end Payton Turner in the first round and Stanford cornerback Paulson Adebo in the third. Those are guys Darnold and the Panthers will have to look out for in turn.
