Four Things We Learned in Episode 3 of 'Panthers Blueprint'

The Panthers social media/creative team did an excellent job taking fans behind the scenes of the team's offseason in their "Blueprint" series.

Tuesday, they released the third episode and it was the best one yet. It featured a complete background on the acquisition of the No. 1 pick and other discussions that took place throughout the draft.

Here are four things that stood out to me during the episode:

They knew Bryce Young was their guy from the beginning

Scott Fitterer didn't "pop the question" to Frank Reich until days before the draft. He told us a couple of times before that despite not asking each other which quarterback they liked, they could sense they were on the same page. You could tell in this episode that not only were Fitterer and Reich all over Young, but everyone in that building was during draft meetings that took place back in February.

Of course they had to do their due diligence and they did keep an open mind about the evaluation process but Young continued to solidify himself every step of the way.

Nervousness at No. 39

Carolina had their eyes on Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo with the 39th overall pick of the draft but they were super nervous that he would end up in Atlanta. Even Fitterer dropped an "oh s***" when he saw the Falcons move up one spot in front of them. Atlanta ended up taking offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron, who would have been plan B for Carolina if Mingo wasn't available.

Shawn Jefferson identified Mingo as a "perfect fit"

The Panthers did a really good job in this episode of featuring other voices in the building aside from the usual, Fitterer and Reich. One scene showed wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson breaking down Mingo's game in a draft meeting and mentioned how he fits their 'Z' position to a T. Mingo will line up all over the place in this offense and will certainly see some time in the slot but it was interesting to hear Jefferson say how Mingo fits a particular position really well.

Trading up for DJ Johnson was pre-planned

The Panthers' trade up for Oregon pass rusher DJ Johnson received a lot of criticism around the league and especially around the city. He only had one full year of playing the position and only posted six sacks. That said, the combination of his freakish athleticism and raw power are what gave the front office conviction to go up and get him.

More interestingly, Frank Reich told Fitterer and Dan Morgan in the video to go back to his office at the end of the night to look at the whiteboard where it had Johnson's name circled with a note beside it to trade up. This shows that they didn't panic when pass rushers were starting to fly off the board and just aimlessly traded up to make sure they got one. They went up to get a guy they liked and planned on doing so.

Plus, Fitterer stated that they won the trade (by value) by 22 points.

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