The Carolina Panthers were seen as a potential landing spot for a quarterback with the eighth overall pick, but they passed on one in favor of cornerback Jaycee Horn.
They then exercised the 2022 option on Sam Darnold\'s contract.
Rhule explained the rationale behind Carolina\'s pick on The Rich Eisen Show.
\"I love those guys and I think they\'re gonna be great NFL players. I just think for us, when we got Sam and knowing he’s 23-years-old, just turned 24, we just felt like Sam plus another player would be better for the team overall,\" Rhule said.
\"Bill Parcells once said one player can\'t do it alone. We\'re just trying to build the whole team and I just believe in Sam, I believe that he deserves the opportunity to go out and play with us. I think those other young quarterbacks are gonna be fantastic players, but the hit rate on first-round quarterbacks isn’t real, real high, and to have a chance to get Jaycee Horn and have Sam Darnold, we just kind of felt like, ‘Hey this is two for one.’ Now, we just have to make sure Sam’s a great player for us.\"