USC left tackle Matt Kalil is expected to be the third player chosen on Thursday night at the NFL draft, whereas his older brother, Panthers center Ryan Kalil, was the 59th player chosen in the 2007 NFL draft. So it’s not a surprise that someone who evaluates college football players would say Matt is better than Ryan.
But considering that Ryan has made the last three Pro Bowls for the Carolina Panthers and last year signed a six-year, $49 million contract with the team, it is a little surprising that someone within the Panthers organization is saying publicly that Matt is the better Kalil. Yet that’s exactly what Don Gregory, the Panthers’ director of college scouting, did say.
“He’s better than his brother,” Gregory told Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s bigger, faster, stronger than his brother. He’s so athletic. He will be a 10-year pro and protect your [expletive] out at left tackle.”
Not everyone, however, is high on Kalil. A day after McGinn quoted an unnamed scout calling Robert Griffin III selfish, McGinn now quotes an unnamed scout questioning Kalil’s character.
“Not one of my faves,” the scout said. “More of it is just his character. He doesn’t have an offensive lineman’s character, especially when you take into account how good his brother is in that way. He’s got a real sense of entitlement.”
Whatever the reasons for an unnamed scout taking a shot at Matt Kalil now, Kalil’s status as a likely third overall pick -- and the fact that someone high up in the Panthers organization thinks Kalil is better than his Pro Bowler brother -- strongly suggests that that’s a minority opinion.