Matt Corral Is Looking Good At Panthers’ Minicamp

Matt Corral earned some praise from coach Matt Rhule after yesterday’s minicamp. After Corral threw his first touchdown pass in Bank of America Stadium, his coach said that “the arrow is definitely pointing up” on the young quarterback. However, he quickly added that learning the playbook is “going to take some time.” Corral seems to have accepted that he needs to understand the offense better before he’s handed the keys.

“The process is just beginning. I know it’s going to ramp up a little bit during training camp. Right now, I just don’t take a day off mentally from the playbook.”

Matt Corral

Corral is in a unique situation with the Panthers. He’s currently behind Sam Darnold on the depth chart, but rumors are swirling about a possible Baker Mayfield trade. If the team keeps Darnold and adds Mayfield, which might happen since the Browns are reportedly not interested in acquiring Darnold in a potential trade, where does that leave Corral? Rhule did nothing to quell the talk about a move for Baker in an interview yesterday. He backed Darnold as the starter, but didn’t discount the possibility of the team making a “significant” upgrade.

Matt Rhule on Sam Darnold: "If we played today, Sam would be our quarterback."
Says if they can make a "significant" upgrade, they should do it. But the players already here also can improve.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) June 16, 2022

To his credit, Corral seems to be saying all the right things about learning from Darnold. He mentioned learning from his habits and “the way he carries himself.”

“(I’m) just picking up on his habits. The way he goes about himself, the way he carries himself – from media, on the field, off the field, certain situations. Taking stuff from him, whatever it is, and trying to implement it into my game.

Matt Corral

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Not Trying To Be A Darnold Clone

Interestingly, he noted that he doesn’t try and copy everything Darnold does.

“If I feel like it doesn’t fit, then I won’t use it. But there are some things that I take away from him.”

Matt Corral

Heading into the draft, Trey Daubert had Corral pegged as the second-best quarterback prospect available. The comp listed for Corral’s worst-case scenario? “Sam Darnold. The Bad kind.” It’s probably a good thing he’s not trying to imitate Darnold too closely, then. The Panthers, meanwhile, are hoping they go into the season with at least one competent QB.

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