Matt Rhule Says Experience In College Gives Him Advantage For NFL Draft
The predraft process in the NFL is really an information process. Senior Bowl, Combine, in-person evaluations all get factored in. Matt Rhule was hired by the Panthers this offseason coming from the University of Baylor. He feels like he has an advantage during the 2020 NFL Draft just from being in the college game for so long.
“The tape is information, the Combine was information, the Senior Bowl was information,” Rhule said, via the team’s website. “But also the connections that we have and the time that we’ve spent either facing or coaching a lot of these guys is information as well.”
He’s probably right. Remember when Pete Carroll first got hired by Seattle? They nailed the draft during his first 3 years with the team. Seattle drafted Russell Okung, Earl Thomas, Golden Tate, and Kam Chancellor. The following year they drafted KJ Wright, Richard Sherman, and Malcolm Smith. 2012 ended up being the Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson draft. Being in college absolutely helped Seattle draft for a long time. The same affect could be coming to Carolina.
Matt Rhule is a respected coach and was known as a program builder in college. He turned Temple and Baylor around in a flash. It will be interesting to see who Rhule has his sights set on in the draft. I’m sure he has a lot more background information than coaches who just stick around the NFL level. It doesn’t hurt to have Joe Brady on his side either who spent the past year at the LSU offensive coordinator.
In our site-wide mock draft, I selected Derrick Brown for Carolina. I can’t wait to see what they do. It’s a turning point for the franchise.
