Matt Rhule wanted to draft Brock Purdy with Panthers but was ‘vetoed’

Matt Rhule claims he was overruled when he wanted to draft Brock Purdy during his time as Carolina Panthers head coach.

Now the head coach at Nebraska, Rhule told reporters that he pleaded with the rest of the organization to consider selecting Purdy in the 2022 NFL Draft, but his colleagues didn’t listen.

“I think Brock Purdy is an amazing player cause I played against him when he was at Iowa State [and Rhule was the coach at Baylor]. When I was in the draft room at Carolina, I brought his name up,” Rhule said. “I said, ‘Hey guys he should be on the draft board.’ I got vetoed on that one, but we used to tell guys when we used to play Brock Purdy, ‘Do not fall for his pump fake.’

“Because Brock would come out and he’d pump fake. First game, he’s 10 yards down the field, he pump fakes. Our DBs are jumping, and I’m like ‘he’s past the line scrimmage.’ So a lot of respect for Brock.”

Whether Rhule’s comments are revisionist history or not, he did get a good look at what Purdy could do in college. The former Iowa State quarterback defeated Matt Rhule’s Baylor squad as a true freshman in 2018, completing 18 of 23 passes for 230 yards and a passing touchdown, adding 56 more yards and a score on the ground. Rhule got revenge a year later, but Purdy put up another solid performance against Baylor in Rhule’s last season with the program, completing 27 of 45 passes for 342 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

If the Panthers wanted Purdy that badly, they would’ve had several chances to select him in the 2022 NFL Draft. Purdy was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the final pick of the draft that year and the Panthers passed on him six times, including three times in the final two rounds. The Panthers also selected a quarterback in the third round that year, trading up to select Matt Corral. They also traded for veteran Baker Mayfield a couple of months later, making him their starting quarterback heading into the 2022 season.

Those…

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Publish date : 2024-02-08 15:04:19

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