MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Cautioned by NFL draft advisors and his West Virginia coaches to stay in school, cornerback Daryl Worley made the leap anyway.
Friday night it paid off when Carolina selected him in the middle of the third round, trading up to do so.
The NFC-champion Panthers, who held opposing quarterbacks to a league-low 73.5 passer rating last season, swapped three lower-round picks to Cleveland and jumped 16 spots to take Worley at No. 77 overall.
General manager Dave Gettleman said Carolina gave Worley a second-round grade, two rounds higher than the draft advisory board pegged him in December. Mock drafts projected Worley no better than a fifth rounder, and ESPN draftnik Mel Kiper rated Worley 115th among his draft prospects.
Yet the junior never lacked for confidence or second-guessed his decision—not even after running a 4.64 at the combine.
Worley improved his 40 time to 4.5 at West Virginia’s pro day, reassuring teams he had sufficient speed to pair with his 6-foot-1 frame.
His junior season was up-and-down: His six interceptions ranked second in the Big 12 but Worley struggled in conference play against elite receivers. Worley also sat out the Cactus Bowl while academically ineligible.
Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson fretted in January that Worley “might have cost himself millions” by entering the draft early, and there was a chance he could have commanded a higher spot in 2017 after a standout senior season.
As things played out, he became the 13th cornerback selected in this year’s draft and the second member of the Mountaineers secondary, following Karl Joseph’s selection at No. 14 overall Thursday night.
Carolina’s secondary took priority after last week’s release of superstar cornerback Josh Norman, who the club deemed too expensive to re-sign.
With the No. 62 pick that ended Round 2, the Panthers chose Samford cornerback James Bradberry, perhaps indicating the club foresees Worley as a safety.
“They’re both big, they’re both young, they both can run, they’re both physical and they both have really good ball skills,” Gettleman told the Charlotte Observer late Friday night.
The GM said Carolina investigated Worley’s two-game suspension in 2014 after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault of a woman at a Morgantown night club.
“We went through the whole process with him. He was defending his girlfriend—there were no domestic violence charges here,” Gettleman said. “We investigated it and talked to the kid at length, and we’re comfortable.”
Three additional Mountaineers—linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, running back Wendell Smallwood and safety K.J. Dillon—expect to be selected Saturday when rounds 4 through 7 unfold.