The Carolina Panthers have a few candidates for steal of the draft, which is the mark of a really good class. One such example is Princely Umanmielen, the exciting young edge rusher out of Ole Miss. He was a third-round pick, but one NFL insider thinks he could be someone to watch right away.
Bleacher Report's Matt Holder picked every roster's best-kept secret, meaning the one thing he thinks is going to happen this year that no one is predicting or thinking about yet. For Carolina, that's instant success from their third-round pick.
Umanmielen is the first rookie mentioned in the article, and Holder believes the third-round pick will turn some heads and quickly look like a steal. "The primary reason for that is he’s shown several ways to win as a pass-rusher, racking up 25.5 sacks in college, including 10.5 and seven in each of the last two respective seasons," Holder argued. "Meanwhile, the Panthers need help on the edge, especially after letting Jadeveon Clowney go recently."
Not only is Umanmielen poised to get a lot of playing time on a team that needs edge rushing badly, but he's also got the talent to produce right away. This is perhaps unlike Nic Scourton, the other rookie edge rusher in Carolina, who is three years younger and whose biggest strength lies in setting the edge on run defense right now.
The Panthers needed edge rushing badly, so they double dipped in the second and third round at the position and gave themselves some young, moldable, exciting prospects to work with. Scourton may get all the headlines as the 20-year-old who could've been a first-round pick, but Holder believes Umanmielen will shine.
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