The Carolina Panthers pulled off a heist of Brian Burns with the 16th overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft. And that’s why they’re not even sniffing him in Pro Football Focus’ recent redo.
With the class now settled in past its third season, PFF analyst Trevor Sikkema ran the first round back this week. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the aforementioned Burns—who was just selected to his first Pro Bowl for his standout 2021 efforts—was scooped up by the Green Bay Packers at No. 12.
That left Carolina looking elsewhere, specifically on the other side of the ball. So with this 16th overall pick, the Panthers select . . . Jonah Williams, offensive tackle, Alabama,
“The Panthers got a steal in Brian Burns at No. 16 back in 2019,” Sikkema writes. “But with Burns long gone in this draft, they should have looked toward a position group they are still trying to figure out in 2022: offensive line. Williams was picked earlier than this in 2019, but when healthy, he’s still a solid young offensive tackle — one the Panthers could certainly use today.”
Williams, who missed his rookie campaign due to a torn labrum, has gone on to play each of his 1,678 career snaps at left tackle—and to some solid success. PFF themselves graded the 6-foot-4, 302-pounder out at a 70.1 in 2020 and a 77.1 in 2021.
But, considering what just went down in the 2022 draft, we’re willing to bet the Panthers are pretty content with what they now have on the blindside and with what they really got three years ago.
