How Vols’ Gaulden learned Panthers had drafted him
Rashaan Gaulden was channel surfing, flipping between NHL and NBA playoff games, when he got a phone call Friday night from a Charlotte area code.
“I saw the 704 area code pop up on my phone, and I thought, ‘This is the Panthers,’” Gaulden said in an interview with UTSports.com.
Gaulden parlayed a standout 2017 season with Tennessee into a thirdround NFL draft selection by the Carolina Panthers on Friday night.
The Panthers selected Gaulden with the No. 85 overall pick.
“This is a great opportunity. More than anything I just can’t wait to get down to Carolina and separate myself,” Gaulden said in a news conference after his selection.
Gaulden is a versatile defensive back who played nickelback for Tennessee last season, when he was the team’s top defensive player.
Carolina general manager Marty Hurney views Gaulden as a safety.
“He’s got good instincts,” Hurney said during a news conference Friday night. “He’s very physical.”
Added Gaulden: “I can execute safety at a very high level, and if that’s what the Panthers see me as, then I will execute that.”
Gaulden opted to forgo his final year of eligibility after racking up 65 tackles, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception in his final season with the Vols.
“He’s tough. He hustles to the football. He’s got some range,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said of Gaulden before Gaulden participated in the NFL scouting combine.
Gaulden said after his draft selection that he sees forcing turnovers as “a major emphasis of my game.”
“The way I attack the game is try to get the ball however I can,” Gaulden said. “I’m just thinking about the football whenever I can as far as forcing fumbles, getting tipped balls, or even making interceptions.”
Gaulden was the lone UT player selected through the first two days of the draft.
Gaulden signed with the Vols as a three-star prospect out of Independence High School in Thompson’s Station. He became a starter in 2016.
Gaulden became the second Tennessee defensive back to be drafted in the past two years, joining Cameron Sutton, who was a third-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.
Before that, the Vols hadn’t had a defensive back drafted since the Kansas City Chiefs took Eric Berry in the first round of the 2010 draft.
Gaulden said after Tennessee’s pro day last month that he thought his versatility – he’s an option to play cornerback, safety or nickelback – would appeal to NFL teams.
“I feel like I have the versatility to play wherever in the back end,” he said.
The Panthers made defensive backs a priority on the second day of the draft. They took LSU cornerback Donte Jackson in the second round before following up with the Gaulden selection.
“We’ve created a lot of competition in the secondary,” Hurney told reporters.
Gaulden is the third former UT player to be selected by the Panthers, who entered the NFL in 1995, and the first since Carolina selected defensive back Deon Grant in 2000.
In Carolina, Gaulden will reunite with Brady Hoke, who was UT’s defensive line coach last year before serving as interim coach for the season’s final two games after Butch Jones was fired. Hoke is Carolina’s defensive line coach.
The Panthers return veteran starting safety Mike Adams, but they parted ways this offseason with their other starting safety, Kurt Coleman. Last month, they signed former Titans safety Da’Norris Searcy.