After all the talk of still being open to taking a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft the Panthers stayed at number 8 and took CB Jaycee Horn. While one of the top defenders on many teams boards Horn was not the pick most expected from the Panthers in the first round.
With Patrick Surtain II still on the board many pundits had him ahead of Jaycee Horn as the best CB in the draft. Also still sitting on the board when the Panthers was selected was QB Justin Fields, one of those players Carolina was supposedly considering selecting even after trading for Sam Darnold.
While we called out the Panthers for a very poorly played bluff pre-draft, seeing it play out so plainly was a little painful to watch. Teams were apparently trying to move up but weren’t offering what the Panthers saw as value over Jaycee Horn. We now know the Bears gave up the 20th pick and a fifth rounder, plus a 2022-first and fourth to move up to 11. Whether that was good enough value we will learn over the coming years.
JAYCEE HORN IS A GREAT MAN COVER GUY
Jaycee Horn doesn’t care about any of that however. He has prototypical size for a corner at 6’1″ and 205 pounds, and clocked a 4.39 40-yard time at his pro day. His 54.9 QB rating in coverage ranked him 3rd in the SEC and the coaching staff love what they see from this kid.
GM Scott Fitterer was very pleased with the pick. Speaking after the first round he said: “What he does so well is his man-cover ability, his quickness, the feistiness of him as a player, his ability to mirror and turn and run with the receivers, and that’s the exact fit that Snow wants on our defense.We just saw the best fit with him.”
While the pick of Jaycee Horn will likely always been saddled with the success, or otherwise, or Sam Darnold and Justin Fields, we expect great things from him. He fills a major weakness on the defence and has the ability to start on day 1. And in the modern NFL you can never have too many elite corners.
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