Panthers Draft Target: Chase Claypool | His Fit, Where he's Drafted
The Carolina Panthers have seven picks in this week’s NFL Draft and will look to primarily fill out their remarkably thin defense but will simultaneously look to bring in other high-caliber talents to propel their young team. Matt Rhule told the media last month that the team would focus on drafting players to bolster their defense but would not pass up on other positions, regardless of need, if an intriguing player were to fall.
The Panthers currently possess a solid receiving core consisting of recently signed Robby Anderson, D.J. Moore, and Curtis Samuel. While all three of Carolina’s wideouts are quick, explosive, and viable options for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, they fail to check off every box your ideal receiving core should consist of. Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool would be the final piece to the puzzle, giving the Panthers an elite passing attack by becoming their premier possession receiver on the outside as well as also being utilized as a hybrid tight end in the passing game.
Chase Claypool is one of the most intriguing wide receiver prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was measured at 6-foot-4, 238 pounds at the NFL combine where he ran a stunning 4.42 40-yard dash. The only other player to be at least 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds and run their 40 in under 4.42 seconds was Calvin Johnson. Claypool peaked as a senior, hauling in 66 passes for 1,037, and 13 TDs.
His innate ability to combine his size, strength, length, athleticism (40.5-inch vert), and hands make him a matchup nightmare on the outside where he could find a role as the Panthers’ possession receiver. Robby Anderson (6-foot-4, 190 pounds), D.J. Moore (6-foot, 210 pounds), and Curtis Samuel (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) are not projected as physical possession receivers on the outside. They are unable to use their size and length to extend to haul in catches over defensive backs. Luckily, Chase Claypool could fill that void and provide the Panthers’ offense with a skillset they currently lack.
Some NFL scouts and front office execs have listed Claypool as a tight end in the NFL due to his inability to get separation on defensive backs but his ability to use his size and length to extend and make tough catches reduce some of those concerns. Tying him down to a position would limit his usage and overall impact on the field by bringing him closer to the tackle box.
Claypool should be utilized as a wide receiver, moving him around the outside and in the slot but in the passing game. He projects to be a big slot receiver or your traditional X-receiver in the NFL. Carolina could utilize him as a hybrid tight end letting him exploit mismatches on slower, smaller, and weaker linebackers and defensive backs. Claypool’s unusual strength and length (6-foot-8 wingspan) at wide receiver makes it rather difficult for smaller defenders to knock him off his path on routes. This gives him favorable matchups against linebackers and safeties that he would likely see when featured as a tight end in the passing game.
The Notre Dame product will benefit from having Carolina’s fellow speed and separation specialists on the field with him, diluting attention off him to enable him to use his straight-line speed and physicality to create separation and claim space with aggressiveness and hand fighting - 50/50 balls on small corners go Claypool’s way a majority of the time.
If you think about Claypool's assortment of physical gifts that overpower defenders, it aligns with other modern-day tight ends like George Kittle, Zach Ertz, and Travis Kelce. They all are at least 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-5 and their weight ranges from 250 to 260 pounds. Claypool is an inch smaller and weighs 10 pounds less than the NFL's top three tight ends but he is more explosive and has more top-end speed. Those aforementioned tight ends are all regularly featured in the slot in the passing game and use the same strengths Claypool possesses that enables them to be one of their offense's primary weapons. Claypool has room for improvement concerning his hands, route running, and footwork but if he can put it all together he could become a matchup nightmare at the next level.
The Panthers could look to draft him with their No. 69 overall pick in the third round if he were to fall but could potentially select him in the mid to late second round if they were to trade their No. 7 pick and get an additional second(s) in return. It seems unlikely that the Panthers would select Claypool at No. 38, as the team will likely be continuing to look for defensive lineman and corners, but if he were to fall down to the third round it would be a quality investment for a prospect with enormous upside.
Boxing Claypool into one position would limit his overall impact so no matter where he is on the field, his elite combination of height, speed, length give him one of the highest catch radius’s in the draft which would provide the Panthers with a skill set and offensive talent their roster truly needs.
