34 ■ THE WOLFPACKER
BY MATT HERB
he Carolina Panthers could
hardly have been more im-
pressed with Ikem Ekwonu
when they met with him in
the weeks leading up to this
year's NFL Draft.
The NC State All-America
offensive tackle appeared to
have it all — the strength, the smarts,
the competitive attitude, as well as an
effervescent personality that was sure to
light up any locker room in the league.
In every way that mattered, Ekwonu
seemed almost too good to be true.
There was just one problem: He also
seemed too good to be drafted by the
Panthers.
Carolina held the sixth pick, and
some analysts were hailing Ekwonu as
possibly the best player in the draft, of-
fense or defense.
When head coach Matt Ruhle and
general manager Scott Fitterer got to-
gether on the morning of the opening
round to game out various scenarios for
the first half-dozen picks, they thought
their chances of landing Ekwonu were
remote at best.
"We went through like 50 scenarios,"
Ruhle said. "Not many of them had him
still being available."
But in an inversion of the draft's usual
HOME FIELD
ADVANTAGE
Ikem Ekwonu Will Begin His Pro Football Career In A Familiar Locale
T
Ekwonu is the third
NC State player in the
past five years to be
selected in the opening
round of the NFL Draft,
joining defensive end
Bradley Chubb (fifth
overall in 2018) and
center Garrett Bradbury
(18th in 2019).
PHOTO BY ETHAN HYMAN,
THE NEWS & OBSERVER
