The Carolina Panthers continued to be defense-focused in the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting a pair of defensive players in the second round on Friday night.
A day after taking defensive tackle Derrick Brown with the seventh overall pick, Carolina selected defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos with the 38th overall pick and traded their third and one of their two fifth-round picks for safety Jeremy Chinn with the 64th overall selection.
"We've got three guys who I think are going to grow in our defense and really help us out," general manager Marty Hurney said. "It was more about how we build our defense than it was about our division or anything else. The vision that Matt (Rhule), coach (Phil) Snow and our staff on how they want to build this defense, worked together and we got guys that everybody felt really good about and improve our defense and build for years to come."
Both second-round selections are versatile players who can allow the Panthers to rotate and create a defensive identity that is needed after losing Luke Kuechly, James Bradberry, Gerald McCoy, Mario Addison and Bruce Irvin this offseason.
Hurney and head coach Matt Rhule said on Thursday following the selection of Brown that building the defense starts upfront and that's what the selection of Gross-Matos helps them continue to do.
“We have to be able to affect the quarterbacks that we’re going to face,” Rhule said. “We are always looking for pass rushers and he is a guy who can get on the edge and turn the corner. He can also play inside and rush the quarterback.”
The former Penn State EDGE didn't start seriously playing football until high school but has the speed and athleticism that can be developed into a top defensive player.
"I think athletically, that's where you find me being a lot different from a lot of other people I'm being compared against," Gross-Matos said. "I've just always been a tremendous athlete, and thanks to my hard-working, I've been able to improve that. I feel like I'm climbing this upward hill. I'm nowhere near the top still, so there's more work to be done."
And he's not afraid to move around the defensive line.
"I was asked to move all around the front four, so I have no problem going inside or outside and no issue with it preference-wise," Gross-Matos said. "Wherever they need me to be, that's where I'll be at."
Carolina saw the opportunity to draft another versatile player with Chinn on the board in the second round, and traded up with Seattle, not wanting to risk missing out when they were set to choose a few picks later.
"We just thought that he was too good to take the chance that he could get through six more picks to get to us," Hurney said. "We thought he was a player that could really help our defense grow. Sometimes when you feel that strongly about a guy, you don't want to take a chance. I don't think he would have gotten to us in the third round."
Chinn played safety at Southern Illinois but has the size to play cornerback.
Rhule even sees him possibly playing some other positions.
"We look at him (Chinn) as a guy that can be trained as a safety and as a nickel SAM," Rhule said. "He'll be able to go out and play No. 2 to the field, he'll also be able to come back in nickel and dime and maybe even defend some of the backs and tight ends."
Rhule went so far to call Chinn a "positionless player."
"We can utilize him in multiple places," he added.
While Chinn believes he has the best chance to excel at safety, he sees the potential to continue growing his game.
"I'm just someone who is always going to be around the football," Chinn said. "Wherever the football is I'm going to get there. You'll see me running all around the field."
With the experience of playing at Southern Illinois, an FCS school, just the fact that the Panthers believed in Chinn enough to trade up, makes him even more ready to get to Carolina and show what he's got.
"Coming into a program that one, believes in me, to trade up and get a guy like me is something I'm excited about," Chinn said. "For them to take a chance on me, Carolina is going to get everything out of me."
The Panthers entered the draft needing defense and haven't shown any other priorities so far, but they still believe the picks they've made haven't been because of need, but the best available player.
"I know it's a cliche' but we really did take the guy that was highest on the board that we liked and will continue to do that," Hurney said. "Obviously, cornerback is a spot of need and there are some guys there that we think fit us and we will look at them closely, but the one thing you don't want to do is go in and take a player just because you're reaching for position."