NFL

Panthers head coach Reich says height will not rule out Young from top draft pick

By Sports Desk March 20, 2023

The Carolina Panthers are taking their time to evaluate their options after trading up for the NFL Draft's number one pick but new head coach Frank Reich says height will not play a major role.

Reich was officially unveiled by the Panthers on Monday having been appointed in late January, after Matt Ruhle was fired five games into the 2022 season which ended with a 7-10 campaign.

The Panthers since traded up for the number one pick, giving up several picks including their first and second-rounders in this year's draft along with wide receiver D.J. Moore as they look to access the best available quarterback to help resolve their offensive issues.

Alabama's Bryce Young is viewed as the best quarterback prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft, along with Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Florida's Anthony Richardson and Kentucky's Will Levis.

But Young's height, at 5-foot-10, is seen as his biggest drawback and Reich has a history with taller quarterbacks.

"Don't read anything into it,'' Reich told reporters. "I'm just saying that because all these people are putting this label on me that I only look at big quarterbacks.

"We're, first and foremost, just looking for playmakers. You look at everything. Every trait that a guy has, and you weigh it. Right? You weigh it.

"The thing is – if there’s 10 categories that you look at in a quarterback, or any player for that matter, the real question is not how to evaluate each of those categories. A big part of the question is how much are you going to weigh each of those categories.

"So, everything’s a factor. But, ultimately, it really comes down to being a playmaker. Being a guy who can make plays all over the field and that happens a lot of different ways."

When asked about which categories he viewed most importantly, Reich laughed: "That'd be like giving the proprietary formula for Kentucky Fried Chicken."

Reich added that the evaluation process was ongoing, with the Panthers having nothing to hide given their position in the draft, scheduled for April 27.

"When you have the number one pick you don't have to play games, right?" Reich said. "It's not like we're trying to fool anybody. What we're trying to do is take all the time we can on the evaluation.

"There's a lot of conviction, as [general manager] Scott [Fitterer] said, on some of these top quarterbacks. The old adage, 'don't make a decision before you have to' – we're going to take every second every day, or every hour every day, to make this decision. And we've still got plenty of time left."

Reich hailed Fitterer for trading up to get the top pick, stating their previous first pick at nine was a "hard spot" given their resolution to solve their QB issues of the past few years.

"Is there more pressure with that? I guess so," Reich said. "But I don't feel it like that. I feel more freedom. We can actually get the guy that we want. We can take the time. We're in the driver's seat."

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