Comments Billie Weiss/Getty Images The Carolina Panthers could have taken either starting quarterback from the College Football Playoff National Championship Game with the No. 8 overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft. After all, Ohio State's Justin Fields and Alabama's Mac Jones were both available, but Carolina elected to go with South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn instead. Head coach Matt Rhule explained that the team passed on quarterbacks because it believes in Sam Darnold during an appearance on "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. 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."