If the 2023 NFL draft pool was a dog pound of quarterbacks, the Carolina Panthers—according to Donte Jackson—couldn’t have gone wrong. Nonetheless, he’s happy with the pup that they grabbed.
The veteran cornerback and team captain spoke with reporters following the second and final session of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. When asked of what he and his teammates thought of the organization’s choice in Bryce Young, Jackson said they actually didn’t know of the pick before it happened.
“That’s when we didn’t know who we were takin’, so we’re just excited,” he said of the squad’s group text that night. “Knowing you were gonna take one of those players—all those guys really weren’t the wrong answer. Definitely, definitely happy with the guy we chose. But, yeah, like I said—there was no wrong answer. So we knew we was gonna go get a dog and we definitely happy with the dog we got ’cause he’s different.”
Other dogs who up for adoption at the time were C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson. Stroud would end up going second overall to the Houston Texans while Richardson went two spots later to the Indianapolis Colts.
But luckily for Jackson’s Panthers, they got the choice of their top dog.