Beef, anyone?
To kick off their activity on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers selected North Carolina State University guard Chandler Zavala with the 114th overall pick. And as far as fourth-round interior lineman go, this is as sexy of a choice as it gets.
For one, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound hog molly is an eye-opening athlete at his size. He tested out with a 9.50 Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which ranks 72nd out of nearly 1,500 guards recorded since 1987.
Zavala also has the numbers, or as much as you can conjure from linemen, according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed just seven hurries, one hit and zero sacks over 615 pass-blocking snaps between 2021 and 2022—earning himself overall grades of 71.5 and 76.0, respectively.
As far as his specific fit, Zavala is certainly a left-side guy—as he played 1,083 of his 1,084 snaps in Raleigh at left guard. So while he could some day challenge Brady Christensen for lead duties, the 24-year-old can immediately give an otherwise light group behind the starting bunch some solid depth.
