Panthers owner David Tepper admits team's initial plan was to draft CJ Stroud second overall

Word out of Carolina early this year had the Panthers fixated on Bryce Young. The team never waivered and selected the former Alabama star with the first pick of the draft.

Yet, at one point, the Panthers were all in on CJ Stroud. Yes, you may now take a moment to absorb this nugget of news. Young and the Panthers have struggled mightily, while Stroud seems to be a lock for NFL Rookie of the Year. Tepper fired coach Frank Reich on Monday along with his two top offensive lieutenants.

Tepper, the Panthers owner, gave a 14-minute press conference, Tuesday, to address why he terminated Reich. But a reporter asked him about the Stroud rumor and what happened with the draft. Reports indicated that Reich wanted to select Stroud, but Tepper overruled him.

Panthers owner said he initially thought Texans, Bears would swap selections leaving Carolina to trade for No. 2 pick

Tepper answered the question by talking around it. As Tepper told it, the genesis of the Stroud rumor started when the Panthers believed they’d ended up with the No. 2 choice in the draft. Initially, there was speculation that the Bears and Texans would flip picks, and that would be how the Panthers ended up with the second choice of the draft. Tepper said in that situation, everyone believed the Texans would select Young. It’s still convoluted.

Here’s how Tepper explained it.

“Originally, we were going to go with the number two pick and we thought we would get C.J. because we thought the Texans were going to pick Bryce,” the Panthers owner said. “And listen, we preferred Bryce, he was our number one pick. We had a lot of conviction.

“But in answer to your questions, it’s just not the way the process was done. The process was done the way the process was done. And again, even if there was a process with five people in the room and the way the votes came in and Frank was the first choice, I always could veto that choice.

Tepper continued “and even if it was Bryce, and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could have vetoed that choice. In both cases, I supported both choices. I supported the coaches (and) I supported the scouts — their unanimous opinion. And I supported Frank Reich. Whatever is good, bad, or indifferent, ultimately, the buck stops here and I take full responsibility for everything. 

“And one last thing, as far as Bryce Young is concerned and I think everybody in this building would share this sentiment, we are totally confident in that pick.”