Carolina Panthers Give Inside Look into Why they Drafted Georgia's Monroe Freeling

An inside look into why the Carolina Panthers drafted Georgia offensive lineman Monroe Freeling.

The 2026 NFL draft concluded this past weekend. The Georgia Bulldogs had a total of eight players selected within the seven rounds, and one first round pick. That first round pick was Monroe Freeling, who was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 19th overall pick.

Freeling becmae the 21st first round pick of Kirby Smart's head coaching career. Smart now has as many career losses as he does career first round picks. Needless to say, the Bulldogs have become quite the pipeline for NFL talent.

There are many reasons why NFL organizations ultimately decide to take a prospect in the first round of the draft, and the Panthers gave an inside look into why they drafted Freeling.

Why Monroe Freeling Was Selected by the Carolina Panthers

Feb 28, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Georgia offensive lineman Monroe Freeling (OL24) speaks to members of the media during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

Joe Gilbert, the offensive line coach for the Panthers, can be seen in the video hopping on a zoom call with Freeling. The two proceed to watc Freeling's college film and Gilbert peppers Freeling with questions.

Not only was Freeling able to recall every play that happened on the screen, but he was able to apply it to what the Panthers do in their offense. Gilbert noted that Freeling had learned the terminology that the Panthers use in their offense and was able to relay it back to Gilbert during the zoom call.

Freeling became an impressive offensive lineman for the Bulldogs over his career. Perhaps the thing that stood out the most was his love for the game that consistently showed up on tape.

The play was never over until the whistle, and Freeling can be seen sprinting down the field just trying to be involved as an offensive tackle. There were also multiple ames throughout his career in which he played with an injury.

Most notably, Freeling played against the Auburn Tigers last season essentially on one foot. He was dealing with an ankle sprain and was not expected to play, if anything it was a break glass in case of emergency type of situation. Eventually, Freeling was thrown into the mix, and is clearly hobbled by his injury. Despite that, he gutted it out and was a reason why Georgia was able to complete the comeback on the road.

Freeling was one of two offensive linemen from Georgia selected in this year's draft as Micah Morris was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round.

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