The Carolina Panthers really like SEC football. Their first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft was Brian Burns out of Florida State and with the No. 100 overall pick they took Will Grier from West Virginia. Other than those two ACC and Big 12 products, every player the Panthers took this past weekend came from the SEC.
In the second round, they got themselves their left tackle of the future in Greg Little out of Ole Miss. There was also edge rusher Christian Miller from Alabama, running back Jordan Scarlett from Florida and wide receiver Terry Godwin from Georgia, who finished out their draft as the 237th overall player.
The Carolina pick before Godwin was the one that ends up being the Panthers’ big steal. That was the No. 212 overall selection, which Carolina used on Dennis Daley from the South Carolina Gamecocks. A former junior college transfer, Daley didn’t go as high as expected, but that could be due to some poor tape to begin his career.
When he first joined South Carolina, Daley was thrown right into the fire and he struggled with the elite SEC pass rushers. Before long, he was starting to get it figured out and held his own against the studs from Clemson, who littered the first round of this very draft.
Daley may still need time to develop, but he has a shot to be the answer at one of the tackle spots. If Little does lock down the left side, don’t be surprised to see Daley start to work on becoming a fixture opposite him in a year or two.