Carolina Panthers: Five potential draft targets in the Senior Bowl

Justin Herbert, QB — Oregon

Behind Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, Oregon’s Justin Herbert is generally regarded as the next-best quarterback in the 2020 draft. In four years with the Ducks, Herbert passed for 10,541 yards and 95 touchdowns while completing 64% of his passes. In addition, he added 13 scores on the ground and threw only 23 interceptions in 1,293 pass attempts. Herbert’s best season came this past year, where he threw for career highs in passing yards and touchdowns, while leading Oregon to 12 wins and the fringe of the College Football Playoff.

At a position where the Panthers currently face immense amounts of uncertainty, Herbert would be a welcome addition to the team. The exact timetable for Newton’s recovery from foot surgery remains unknown, and Kyle Allen showed in 2019 that he likely isn’t the long-term answer. The Panthers started Will Grier in the final two games of the season, where he struggled mightily in the game-and-a-half he played, failing to lead a touchdown drive, while throwing four interceptions. With all of the question marks surrounding Carolina’s quarterback situation moving forward, the potential drafting of Herbert would make him the clear signal-caller of the future.

Standing at 6’6,” 227 pounds, Herbert has the prototypical build for an NFL quarterback, and could be an ideal fit in Joe Brady’s offense. According to thedraftnetwork.com, Herbert has excellent arm strength and accuracy, and is plenty mobile enough to make plays outside the pocket–all traits that enabled Burrow to succeed in Brady’s system at LSU. The only real downside of Herbert’s game is that he sometimes struggles going through his secondary progressions, and could stand to gain some weight. Neither of those are problems that can’t be fixed.