Carolina Panthers: OLB Shaq Thompson
2015 – Pick #25
Gentleman went back to the defensive side of the ball in the 2015 NFL Draft, selecting Shaq Thompson with the 25th pick of the first round. Thompson has been a solid linebacker for the Panthers ever since.
In just about every metric, Thompson seems to improve year over year.
He recorded just 50 tackles in 14 games played in 2015. He also had one sack and two qb hits.
But his total tackles since then show significant improvement. Thompson recorded 56 tackles in 2016; 61 in 2017; 80 in 2018; 109 in 2019; 114 in 2020.
He has never been a master of sacking the quarterback. His career high was 3.5 in 2018, a year in which he also had six QB hits. He recorded 3 sacks in 2019 as well.
But, as his skyrocketing tackles total shows, he’s becoming a master at the inside line backer position. Thompson knows how to fill gaps on the ground, and he is improving defending the air across the middle. He recorded five pass deflections in 2020, tied for his career high.
After exercising their fifth-year option on Thompson in 2019, the team agreed to a four-year, $54.2 million contract extension. Thompson has been improving ever since, cracking 1000 defensive snaps for the first time in his career in 2020.