Take on a Leadership Role

While some teams may have to worry about the character of some of their draft prospects, that won’t be a concern for the Panthers with Derrick Brown. In fact, he’s considered as being quite mature and being a great locker room presence during his time at Auburn.

For a team that has lost veterans like Luke Keuchly, Greg Olsen, and Cam Newton that have been with the organization for years, it’s important to add new potential leaders like Brown. Having each of those franchise-cornerstones

It’s especially important when considering a coaching change occurred, too. The Panthers will need Matt Rhule to command the respect of the locker room and having a high character rookie like Brown coming in at the same time will certainly help achieve that.

There was a clear focus from the Panthers to bolster the impact they receive on defense given they made a historic amount of selections of defensive players. It’s crucial the first player off the board sets the tone for the rest of the class both on the field and as a leader.