According to a report by Scout.com's Aaron Wilson, the Panthers officially met with Notre Dame safety Zeke Motta last Friday.
I don't know how much of this is due diligence, or if the Panthers are interested in drafting him late in the draft, but it's no secret that Carolina needs secondary help. However, I can't figure out why they would use one of their visits on a guy who is ranked as a late-round prospect.
The only thing I can come up with is they may plan to hold off on drafting players for the secondary until after the fourth round, if they decide to address it in the draft at all.
A few notes on Motta from Scout.com:
Motta had 77 tackles, two for losses and three pass deflections last season.
Motta is a 6-foot-2, 213-pounder who has run the 40-yard dash between 4.62 and 4.75 seconds.
At the NFL scouting combine, Matta bench pressed 225 pounds 11 times and registered a 35 1/2 inch vertical leap, a 10-6 broad jump, a 4.16 20-yard shuttle and a 6.7 three-cone drill.
He improved his bench press numbers to 16 repetitions at the Fighting Irish campus Pro Day workout.
While Motta is an intriguing prospect, I don't really understand this visit. Motta is slated as a 7th rounder by CBS Sports, so unless he has risen up draft boards since they last updated their information or the Panthers see him in a completely different light, this official visit is puzzling to say the least.
At any rate, we'll keep you updated on this interesting story, so stay tuned to CSR for any future updates.