Monroe Freeling achieved a dream last Thursday when the former Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 19th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Carolina released some clips from Freeling's pre-draft zoom call with Panthers offensive line coach Joe Gilbert. As excepts from the call are heard, Gilbert talks about what impressed him during his meeting with Freeling and offers some of the thought process that went into making him their first-round selection.
Panthers released footage of Monroe Freeling's pre-draft zoom call with OL coach Joe Gilbert pic.twitter.com/i74pxJrswU
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) April 29, 2026
"You want to kind of evaluate 'em like when they're watching the tape and see how honest they are with their self-evaluation," Gilbert says while he and Freeling discuss a clip where the lineman wasn't low enough.
It's a fascinating look at everything that a coach is looking for when evaluating a potential top pick. Gilbert talks about how Freeling was already trying to use the terminology that the Panthers use, and how it showed him that the player had put time in to understand the material and had been working hard to learn everything. And this is days before the draft, when Freeling wasn't sure who was going to pick him.
Carolina Panthers release clips of Monroe Freeling's pre-draft zoom call
It goes without saying that there is a lot that goes into becoming a first-round pick on the player side and a lot that goes into making the selection from the team side. With so much speculation on the draft about what a team needs and trying to project the available players that should be on the board at the time of the selection, the process of getting there often gets lost.
But it takes a lot of work from the player beyond simply having the talent. Playing in the NFL is a full-time job and for a team to invest millions in a player that may have just turned 22, they need to know that he's the right guy and the right fit.
Freeling clearly invested his time wisely. He was able to show Gilbert all the things he needed to see beyond the field. They say that football is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. This was some good insight into the mental process that NFL teams are looking for and why Freeling was the guy that the Panthers had to have.
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