With the 2023 NFL Draft officially in the rearview mirror, it is time to break it all down. After the dust settled, the Carolina Panthers had five players comprise their 2023 NFL Draft class. Now it is time to give a pro comparison for each of Carolina’s selections.
Drawing Pro Comparisons for the Carolina Panthers 2023 Draft Class
Bryce Young Comp: Joe Burrow
Just as the NFL Draft started at number one overall, so will we. The Panthers selected one of the most prolific signal callers in NCAA history when they sent their card to the podium with Bryce Young’s name on it.
There might not be a player that is harder to comp than Young. There is not an apple-to-apple player to match up with Young’s blend of size, ability, and playing style. So here it goes, while Young’s size puts him in line with players like Drew Brees, Doug Flutie, and Fran Tarkenton, he does not play the game like them.
The player that most resembles how Young plays the game is none other than Joe Burrow.
Young and Burrow are both masters at manipulating the pocket, possess the ability to use their legs to threaten the line of scrimmage while finding open receivers, and don’t have the strongest of arms but make up for it with phenomenal touch and accuracy. Above all else though, they are born winners that teammates gravitate towards.
They also share the same fault. Both Young and Burrow believe in their abilities so much that they will keep a play alive long after the expiration date and leave themselves open to injury. The only difference is that Burrow is five inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.
bryce young tennessee thread: starting w/ this one. already felt like he was QB1, but this level was something else. pic.twitter.com/wPqglfUQP0
— Kyron Samuels (@kyronsamuels) October 17, 2022
Jonathan Mingo Comp: Deebo Samuel
The Panthers looked to round out the skill set of their receiving room when they selected Jonathan Mingo in the second round. With Mingo now in the fold, the Panthers have a well rounded receiving corps with tons of upside. The depth of the room will also allow Mingo to grow into a role instead of throwing him directly into the fire.
But given Mingo’s athletic profile and playmaking ability, it could be hard to keep him off the field, much like the player that Mingo compares to the most, Deebo Samuel. Both Mingo and Samuel are extremely physical receivers with running back-like builds. Mingo is slightly taller at 6’-2” compared to Samuel being just under six feet tall, but both are right around the 220-pound mark and rocked up.
Their combine testing is eerily similar as well. Both Mingo and Samuel ran in the 4.4’s in the 40-yard dash, both had 39-inch vertical jumps, with Mingo besting Samuel in the broad jump by seven inches and bench press by seven reps. Both were also early second-round picks.
Where the players are the most similar is with the ball in their hands. Mingo, like Samuel, looks like a running back after the catch, and will be a nightmare for cornerbacks in the open field. We will have to wait to see how Mingo is deployed within the Panthers’ offense. But, if given a Deebo-type role, within a year or two Mingo could be one of the more dangerous receivers in the league.
D.J. Johnson Comp: Yetur Gross-Matos
With the Panthers transitioning to a 3-4 hybrid scheme under new defensive coordinator, Ejiro Evero, there was a priority placed on finding schematic fits in the draft class. Enter D.J. Johnson, a prototypical outside rush linebacker. Johnson possesses the length, speed, and athleticism to give the Panthers a strong rotation during year one of the transition.
Interestingly enough, the player that is the cleanest comp to Johnson is a player that he will be backing up in Carolina, Yetur Gross-Matos. While Gross-Matos was a more scheme-diverse player entering the league, given his higher weight and experience playing inside at Penn State, the similarities are undeniable.
Both have outstanding length, with Johnson measuring in at 6’-4” and 260 pounds and Gross-Matos at 6’-5” and 265 pounds. Agility is the main component of both of their games, although neither have a lot of bend to them. Both win with linear attacks that can overwhelm tackles with their first-step quickness.
Johnson has more pop to his hands than Gross-Matos. But Gross-Matos has a more nuanced pass-rush plan that could serve as a good template for Johnson to learn from. Where the pair most closely resemble each other is their ability to set an edge and knife laterally in run support. The Panthers have a type at outside linebacker, and it looks like Gross-Matos and Johnson.
DJ Johnson’s Senior Bowl 1v1 reps pic.twitter.com/SICbenutbE
— The 4 Man Rush (@4ourmanrush) April 30, 2023
Chandler Zavala Comp: Damien Lewis
The Panthers bolstered the interior of their offensive line when they selected Chandler Zavala, a guard out of North Carolina State. The redshirt senior was coming off an All-ACC year entering the 2023 NFL Draft cycle.
The player that Zavala most closely compares to is Seattle Seahawks guard Damien Lewis. Both Zavala’s and Lewis’ calling card is their short-area power and ability to move interior defensive linemen in the run game. With similar frames and mass: Zavala is 6’-3” and 322 pounds, and Lewis is 6’-2” and 327 pounds, there is no mistaking what position they are suited for; these are phonebooth guards.
Zavala, like Lewis, will need to refine his skills as a pass blocker before he starts seeing action on the field. But the upside is there for Zavala to develop into a starting quality guard that could be a menace in the run game.
Jammie Robinson Comp: Jimmie Ward
The Panthers knocked it out of the park with their final addition to the draft class when they selected Jammie Robinson. The Florida State Swiss army knife is exactly the type of player they needed to back up Jeremy Chinn in their hybrid big nickel safety role.
Robinson excelled at everything he was asked to do while at Florida State, from post safety to nickel corner and even taking reps as a dime linebacker. The player that comps to Robinson is current Texans safety Jimmie Ward.
Both Ward and Robinson measure in at 5’-11” and weighed within two pounds of each entering the league. While their frames look more like undersized safeties, they both play with the physicality that offsets any size concerns.
Because of their versatility, Robinson and Ward are both ideal candidates to play the big nickel and excel in run support. Ward is entering his ninth season in the NFL and is still going strong. If Robinson goes on to have half the career that Ward has had, the Panthers got themselves an absolute steal in round five.
Main Photo: Jim Dedmon – USA Today Sports
