Notre Dame football: Carolina Panthers select Troy Pride Jr.

The Carolina Panthers selected former Notre Dame cornerback Troy Pride Jr. in the fourth round of the draft with the 112th overall selection.

The feel-good stories for former Notre Dame players being drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft continued with the Carolina Panthers selection of Troy Pride Jr. The first feel-good story came in the form of Cole Kmet being drafted by his hometown Chicago Bears, then Julian Okwara was drafted by the Detroit Lions to play on the same defensive line as his brother and former Golden Domer Romeo Okwara.

The warm fuzzy feelings continued when Greer, South Carolina native Troy Pride Jr. was selected by the Carolina Panthers. Pride Jr. will now be able to play professional football just an hour away from his hometown.

New Panthers head coach, and former Baylor University head coach, Matt Rhule referenced the importance of Pride Jr. being able to start at cornerback as a freshman for a program of the caliber of Notre Dame as one of the reasons that the Panthers targeted him.

Carolina will be receiving a lightening quick cornerback who likely projects as a slot cornerback in the NFL because of his elite speed. He will join Corn Elder, Donte Jackson, Dominique Hatfield, and fellow Notre Dame alum Cole Luke in the Carolina cornerback corps.

Many experts predicted Pride Jr. would go in the second or third rounds of the draft, so his fourth-round selection has to be somewhat disappointing, especially given the dearth of cornerback prospects that went off the board.

Incredibly, Pride Jr.’s 40-yard dash time of 4.39 was considered somewhat disappointing, as many expected him to run one of the fastest times at the NFL Combine. He had hoped to improve upon that time at the Notre Dame Pro Day. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pro Day was canceled.

The “slow” time of Pride Jr. at the combine may have caused him to slip. As a result, the Carolina Panthers likely got a steal when he slid down to the fourth round. The Panthers get an extremely fast cornerback in Pride Jr. who is excellent in coverage. He certainly has the skillset and the makeup to be able to win a starting cornerback position with the Panthers next season.

Stay tuned to Slap the Sign for all of the NFL Draft news and information in regard to all of your favorite Notre Dame players.