Black and Blue Review

Black and Blue Review

Carolina Panthers News and Coverage for the Digital Age

Home•The Latest•If Keyarris Garrett Was So Draftable, Why Didn’t the Panthers Take Him?

If Keyarris Garrett Was So Draftable, Why Didn’t the Panthers Take Him?

Posted on Author Bill VothCategories NewsTags ,

It’s a question that’s bounced around the Carolina Panthers’ fan base for two weeks.

Why wasn't Keyarris Garrett drafted?

"I have no idea," says the 2015 NCAA leader in receiving yards.

The Panthers are just as perplexed.

"I don't know," receivers coach Ricky Proehl says. "It's a good question.”

So let's pose it to Ron Rivera.

“I’m surprised," the head coach admits. "I got messages, emails, text messages and phone calls just saying, 'You guys got a steal. There's a guy that should have been drafted.'"

But if it was such a no-brainer, why didn't the Panthers take him? Instead of using the second-last pick in the entire draft on tight end Beau Sandland, shouldn't they have grabbed Garrett instead?

"If we were looking for a wideout, we may have drafted him. We had him as a draftable receiver," says Proehl, who then explains, "As the draft went, we weren't really looking for a 6-3 or 6-4 wideout. We got that guy. But shoot, he's there in the free agent market?”

That question was a lot easier to answer.

After the Titans made Southern Miss cornerback Kalan Reed the final pick of the draft, Proehl immediately dialed up Garrett. Despite already having four wideouts standing at least 6-foot-3, the Panthers were more than willing to welcome another as a priority undrafted free agent. But they weren't the only ones.

"That's the beauty of our scouting department with [director of college scouting] Don [Gregory] and [general manager] Dave [Gettleman]. They send a lot of us out on the road and form a relationship with this kid, so now when you pick up the phone and call him, you know him," says Proehl. "You have a relationship, he knows who you are, he knows my approach to coaching and he wanted to come here and play for the Carolina Panthers."


If Garrett's belief in himself was shaken by his undrafted status, he certainly didn't lack confidence at this weekend's rookie minicamp.

"I'm trying to show these coaches why I should have been drafted and why I was the best receiver in the draft," he says.

Hold up. The best receiver in a draft where 33 guys were taken and you weren't?

"Yessir," Garrett replies.

"If you look at the stats, that's what everybody wants to do by — numbers. My numbers didn't lie. I had the best numbers out of any receiver in the draft."

Yardage-wise, that's accurate. Garrett's 1,588 yards led the NCAA's top division. But to be fair, his 96 receptions were 8th-best in the country and 36 guys had more receiving touchdowns than he did.

Garrett also didn't turn any heads with a 4.53-second 40-yard dash at February's combine, and at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, he's leaner than fellow 6-foot-4-plus wideouts Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess.

"Some docs and scouts may have looked at his build," says Proehl, still trying to figure out why no one took a late-round flier on Garrett. "From a weight standpoint, he may not be as big as a Kelvin or a Funch, but he can run, he makes tough catches. He's very productive.

"You look at what he did at Tulsa, shoot, 90-something balls, 15-hundred yards — that's production, man. As a wide receiver coach, that's what you're looking for. Can he play and did he make plays on Saturday?"

Of those two questions, we know the answer to the latter. The Panthers will find out about the other this spring and summer.

"I was kind of upset about [not being drafted], but that's not something I can control. I felt like I did everything I could do, but I didn't get drafted," Garrett says.

"I'm not really too much focused on that now. That's in the past. I'm out here trying to get better."

SHARE THIS POST
Share this post










Submit
  • Carpanfan95

    Looking at the roster from 2015 the picture of WR’s looked bleak at best. Kelvin Benjamin went down with a torn ACL. Funchess came on at the end of the year.

    What fans didn’t see sitting in the background is another freak of nature that has been developing quietly in shadows of Kelvin Benjamin in WR Stephen Hill. To understand this you have to really do your homework starting at the college level. He can make the catches, but he was limited in theGT triple option system. Hill needed work is true, but getting drafted by the Jets and the turmoil with Rex Ryan bring a Chip Kelly rolled through more players than you could imagine. From letting QB Mark Burnnel goright before they drafted Hill, let Jericho Cotchery go, Plaxico Buress go, traded Bronco’s for Tim Tebow. Drafted Geno Smith and had Mark Sanchez. Fired just about an entire coaching staff etc.

    This was the worst possible scenario I player could have nightmares over. No veteran leadership, new coaching staff, trades going on left And right and who knows what else.

    Hill is a freak of nature 6’4 215lbs. Runs a 4.30 & 4.31-40 combine results states 4.36 until you watch the video. Hills arm length is almost 34″ and his vertical is 39.5″. In2012 he was targeted 21 times and had 5 drops as a rookie. 2013 they put him in IR. Why I have no clue. Jets traded their 2 and, 5th & 7th round picks to go up 4 spots to get him.

    Now Rivera was ready to start Hill over Brown in 2014 in the playoff game against the Seahawks. Didn’t happen. Wait until the regular 2015 season to start him . Excellent training camp up until the point of him tearing a ACL. So Hill will be a sleeper no one expects. This is why we were not looking for another 6’4 WR.

    We Keyarris Garrett wasn’t suppose to be a UDFA. No way should he had been there. Though he was and he is here. To great a talent to waste.

    Gettleman, Rivera, Shula, Proehl and Hoener is facing a great problem. There is so much talent at WR and TE is unreal. Fans you don’t realise how great these 2 position coaches are. I do and done the research. I have looked at every player we have and their background. Leaders, Captains, degrees, schools and college coaches they learned from is unreal.

    Keyarris Garrett had the best HC/QB/OC in college football teaching him. You got to research Tulsa’s HC Phillip Montgomery. Montgomery is the Ex Baylor’s OC/QB coach who I call the QB wispher. Baylor has always been the leader in high powered offenses. In Montgomery’s first year at Tulsa the ranked 7th in the nation in offense. Garrett has the skill st that made QB Evans from Tulsa look great.

    So if you take a in-depth look at the WR group and the TE group makes you look at the aRB group and say do we really need 4 RB’s and FB over this kind of talent when Cam leads in rushing yards. Do we really need a 30 year old FB you is 5’9 listed weight 250 lbs.

    If you know who I am you know I wanted to over haul the DB group like the WR group. Yes I wantedRB Derrick Henry, but I like Devon Johnson. I even had FB/TE Andrew Bonnet pegged as a UDFA. Why at 6’3 245 lbs. It’s real simple I missed the flexibility of Ricky Bricked who played that roll. Then I think if we had Bricked in the Super Bowl would have Von Miller had any success..

    Folks take Gettleman at his word.” Big Men can play too.”

    Kelvin Benjamin can’t run. 4.30-40, but he demands a double team. Jericho Cotchery ran a 4.70-40 and played slot. Ginn is 30 years old.

    The question is what do you do? Keep a 2 30 year old players over younger talent for one year or do you bite hard and cut them loose and move on like we did with the WR group in 2013. Hanging on to favorite players don’t win you the Super Bowl.

    Now answer this who missed RB Stephen Davis? I do. Big power bruising RB. Who misses FB Brad Hoover who opened holes for Davis, Foster, Deangelo Williams and j Stew. Only year they produce was when Hoover lead the charge.

    My first cuts this season will shock you. Mike Tolbert, Ted Ginn Jr., Dizzy Whitaker, Brenton Version, Ed Dickson, Of Chris Scott, Center Ryan Malik or trade him. That’s the hard one which saves 7.750 million in cap to move forward in signing Star long term.

    What you don’t see is what Gettleman did when he signed the Future Reserve Players in De Larry Webster who we brought in on 2013 for a workout, or signing a rimington trophy winning Center or the runner up winner of the Rimington trophy. Or the DE who is listed as a center, another WR who had huge production in college who landed on the wrong teams. A CB who made the wrong choice by leaving Alabama for personal reason, but was a great talent or the last of Texas Longhorns Mack Brown era who blocked for RB Malcolm Brown. Or a LT/LG/TE/Wing player from Stanford who won more awards that it looks like a veterans war chest plate who blocked for Andrew Luck in college and blocked for RB Tyler Gaffney.

    Folks I spend a lot of time researching our team and our division. As much as you like these guys our division is catching us. You wonder why we took 3 CB’s it’s simple Gettleman set the draft up so he could. I’m sure after talking to Norman’s agent for so long and nothing was going anywhere he started reworking the draft board. Looked hard at the roster and possibly the UDFA guys and he pulled the trigger and Norman is no more.

    IMO Kerrarris Garrett was a gift or free pick that we traded for World and Cash was the same. So that leaves Johnson and Bonnet the 2 players Gettleman seems to find every year. Don’t get me wrong TE McGee could be another along with LB Jared Norris. Well I guess after thinking about it Gettleman bettered himself this year in the UDFA.

    So OTA’s starts before long And the long drawn out process fthe 90 man roster begins. Who will be on the 53 man roster to take us back to the Super Bowl? WR Kerrarris Garrett, RB Devon Johnson, TE Andrew Bonnet or severL of the Future Reserve layers stepping up or the guys sitting behind other starters waiting for there chance. You can’t keep developing players and not let the veterans go.

    I’ve got my roster about finished and the 10 for the PS. My Veteran leaders are Cam, Luke, Star, KK, Ealy, Turner, Norwell and a couple of others.

    Looking forward to the 2016 “Greatest Show on Turf” with MVP Cameron Newton Leading the Charge.

    • Flex On My Ex

      Thank you!! This comment to the article is like when you leave a party and head to the after party and it’s just as fun as said party was.

      • Carpanfan95

        Thanks I don’t get a chance to check here to often. I’m doing research and wish that windows 10 had spell check, hope you figured it out.
        If you insight into this years college players I’m watching go the Panthers Message Board and under College heading at or close to the bottom I’ve started a list based of the Heisman List.
        Read what I posted about the players and you will see why.

  • Boogs

    Carpanfan95 you should be writing for someone great insight. Much better observations than anywhere else. I would read

    • Carpanfan95

      Thanks I appreciate that. More insight is in the Panthers message board. Player profiles I have started. I use to keep them on my computer, but I lost it all on a crash. Yeah I didn’t back it up. so I decided to post my research for next years draft and prospects to watch on the Panthers Message Board under the heading of College. Then a started a Thread of listing players. I started with a projected Heisman list and added to it.
      This is how I did it and made notes about the players and what jumps out at me.