Panthers Big Board: Cole Kmet Draft Profile
With the 2020 NFL Combine officially underway and the draft rapidly approaching, we continue to break down some of the college game's biggest stars that the Panthers may have their eye on.
This off-season, the Carolina Panthers "mutually agreed" to part ways with veteran tight end Greg Olsen, who has since signed a one year deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
With Olsen now long gone, the Panthers have to find a way to find some production from the tight end position. Last week, Carolina waived backup tight end Marcus Baugh, leaving just three tight ends on the roster (Ian Thomas, Chris Manhertz, Temarrick Hemingway).
After limited playing time through his first two years at Notre Dame, Cole Kmet burst onto the scene in 2019. As a junior, Kmet hauled in 43 receptions for 515 yards and six touchdowns and became a very reliable target for Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book.
Kmet is more of a receiving tight end and has a lot to work on as far as blocking goes. The talent is there, it just needs to be fully developed.
Publisher of Irish Breakdown, Bryan Driskell, gave us a mini scout on Kmet.
"Playing baseball his first two years limited how much he grew physically and the strength he could add. He was a pitcher, so flexibility was key, staying loose was key, and he had a completely different winter-spring workout than any other tight end. If Kmet runs in the low 4.7 or high 4.6 range it will solidify what people already think about him. Big, physical, fluid all-around athlete with top-notch ball skills, but more of a throwback player that lacks vertical speed, and someone who might have trouble separating down the field." To read a more in-depth scouting report of Kmet, you can find that here on the official coverage of Notre Dame on Sports Illustrated.
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