He may have fallen out of the draft, but don’t count out Oregon State cornerback Rejzohn Wright from making an NFL roster. Wright has an excellent chance to become the latest young talent to star in the Carolina Panthers’ impressive secondary, even as an undrafted free agent. He’s a talented player with clear upside as a pass defender, particularly in zone coverage, and could become a solid contributor to Carolina’s defense in due time.

Wright is on the taller side for a cornerback at 6-foot-2 and has good length with 32 ½-inch arms. He uses that size and length advantage well against receivers of all sizes. Thanks to his height, Wright matches up well with bigger-bodied receivers and can compete and hold his own with them on contested catches downfield and in the red zone. Wright also uses his length well against even some smaller receivers by jamming them off of the line of scrimmage and disrupting their routes early. His length and height combine to make him a very difficult defender to target since he’s able to close throwing windows quickly and easily. On top of that, Wright has good ball skills, meaning he never seems out of position to make any play.

In Carolina, cornerback has been a position of need that wasn’t filled in free agency or during the draft. Jaycee Horn will be back healthy after a season-ending wrist injury cut short his impressive second season in 2022, but behind him, the depth chart gets murkier. Donte Jackson tore his Achilles in Week 10 last season and is still recovering. Meanwhile, C.J. Henderson and Keith Taylor haven’t been the most reliable depth options when called upon. Safety Jeremy Chinn will move around the defense a bit more in 2023 with new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, but he’s not a guy that can reliably and consistently play one of the outside cornerback positions.

Wright is in a prime opportunity to turn heads during minicamp and OTAs and push himself into a roster spot within a needy cornerbacks room. The Panthers brought in a couple of new faces at safety this offseason with Xavier Woods and Vonn Bell in free agency then Jammie Robinson in the draft. But Wright is one of very few young, new faces at the cornerback spot and is the one that has the highest ceiling.

In the long run, Wright will need to improve his footwork and change-of-direction abilities to improve his coverage skills in man and particularly press-man. He’s left behind by twitchy receivers and starts to get grabby, and too often, that leads to penalties. In addition, the Oregon State product could benefit from adding some extra effort in run defense by being a more willing defender when opponents keep the ball on the ground.

In all though, Wright has an excellent chance to follow in his brother Nahshon’s footsteps and fulfill his dream of making it onto an NFL roster, even despite going undrafted. The California native can thrive on a Panthers roster that’s relatively weak at his position during the preseason. With just a bit more refinement of some skills and extra development, he could wind up a CB2 or CB3 for Carolina by his rookie season’s end.