80 Prospects in 80 Days: Oklahoma C Creed Humphrey
Each day leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft, we will take a look at prospects that should be on the Carolina Panthers' radar. We will look at roughly eleven prospects per round to give a better idea of potential draftees beyond just the first round.
Here's our schedule for the next 80 days:
1st Round: Feb. 8th - Feb. 21st
2nd Round: Feb. 22nd - Mar. 6th
3rd Round: Mar. 7th - Mar. 18th
4th Round: Mar. 19th - Mar. 29th
5th Round: Mar. 30th - Apr. 8th
6th Round: Apr. 9th - Apr. 18th
7th Round: Apr. 19th - Apr. 28th
Prospect No. 16: C Creed Humphrey
College: Oklahoma
Height: 6'4" Weight: 312 lbs
Draft range: Late 1st round/early 2nd round
Analysis: Most centers in college football are one of the smaller guys on an offensive line, but not Creed Humphrey. There aren't many true centers out there with his size and his pure strength. He's one of the more unique offensive linemen that I've seen come out of college in that he is so dominant playing a position that you wouldn't expect him to line up at.
The Panthers need to get nastier and more physical up front. If Carolina uses their first-round pick on a quarterback, you can almost guarantee that they will use their second-round choice on an offensive lineman. Drafting Humphrey may not be popular amongst the fanbase but it would be the start of rebuilding the offensive line. Since Carolina restructured the current starting center Matt Paradis' contract, I doubt Humphrey would start out at center. He could easily be kicked out to guard and potentially moved back to center if the Panthers move on from Paradis after 2021.
Analysis from John Hoover of All Sooners on Sports Illustrated:
Creed Humphrey comes from a wrestling family that hails from nearby Shawnee, OK. So when he signed with Oklahoma in 2017, it was a dream come true for the whole clan. After redshirting as a freshman, Humphrey eventually won the starting job from senior Jonathan Alvarez in 2018. He started Week 2, then Week 4, and wasn’t out of the lineup again, a string of 36 consecutive starts. The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Humphrey isn’t overwhelmingly strong, but has functional strength at the point of attack and brings good punch to the contact. He also has long arms and is more athletic than he looks. As gifted as he is physically, what sets Humphrey apart is his learned skills: he’s a perfectionist about his footwork and hand technique, applies his craft with painstaking attention to detail, and has a high football IQ that comes from an unrelenting work ethic and study habits. Put all that with a lifetime spent on the wrestling mat, and Humphrey can be a centerpiece offensive line talent in the NFL for a decade or more.
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