The Carolina Panthers viewed their NFL first-round draft pick Monroe Freeling from Georgia football as a player who is a still-young talent that doesn’t have a huge body of work as a starter but has so much they like already.
“To get a guy who’s 21 years old, who for all intents and purposes hasn’t grown into his body completely but already is 6-7 and 315 pounds,” coach Dave Canales said on Thursday night April 23 in a press conference streamed on the team's X account. “He’s going to settle into some really good football. The strength and all that stuff will continue to develop. …The quickness, straight-line speed, length, all that is very forgiven for an offensive lineman. That’s what really fired me up about his film.”
He joins recent Georgia offensive linemen Amarius Mims in 2024, Broderick Jones in 2023 and Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson in 2020 in going in the first round.
Freeling was with family back in Mount Pleasant, S.C, when he got the call from Carolina.
His agent said if he was still available at No. 19, the Panthers would take him.
“You have to take everything with a grain of salt because I didn’t know how this night was going to go,” Freeling told reporters on a Zoom Thursday night
When the Panthers called, he said his reaction was: “No way. It was surreal. It’s still surreal. I don’t even know if it’s set in yet quite yet that I’m staying home and only a three hour drive from home.”
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He said that playing for the Panthers in Charlotte will be closer than Athens when he played for the Bulldogs. He moved to South Carolina from Oregon in 2016.
"I know a lot of Carolina fans that are kind of around me just being in the area," Freeling said.
His older brother Tristan played basketball at Queens University in Charlotte.
Now Freeling will be blocking for former Georgia running back Trevor Etienne and quarterback Bryce Young.
General manager Dan Morgan mentioned Freeling’s 34-inch arms and “huge hands,” when talking about what he liked of the junior who started 18 games: “He’s just an athlete out there. An athlete that can pass protect, he can mirror, run block, get to the second level. He can move the line of scrimmage. He just so many things well that excited us.”
Morgan said Young texted him after the Panthers selected someone that can protect Young.
“I watched him whenever he was playing in the playoffs, that’s for sure,” Freeling said. “He was the same size as my other quarterback (Gunner Stockton). I’m going to play with better pad level. I’m just excited to block for him and block for the team.”
Said Morgan: “He’s an unbelievable kid. Just always happy, great smile. He loves football. …He just loves the game, he loves competing. He’s tough. He brings everything we were looking for.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football's Monroe Freeling calls being drafted by Panthers 'surreal'