The Panthers have downloaded a new app, signing third-round draft choice (89th overall) Armanti Edwards from Appalachian State. A quarterback in college for the Mountaineers, he will line up at wide receiver in the NFL for Carolina.
Edwards, 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds, played in 51 games with 49 starts at Appalachian State and compiled a 42-7 record as the team's starting quarterback. He is the only player to ever win the Walter Payton Award - given annually to the nation's top NCAA Division I FCS player - twice, capturing the honor as a junior in 2008 and senior in 2009.
"The versatility that he brings – he is an athlete; he is a football player. He plays the game with an intensity and a toughness that you like. He's got speed and he's just a competitive, tough football player," said general manager Marty Hurney. "Time's going to tell with him, but you just get a feeling that he's got something (that will make him) a very good player."
A four-time All-American, Edwards led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Division I FCS national championship in 2006 and 2007. He completed 768-of-1,180 passes for 10,392 yards and 74 touchdowns with 33 interceptions and rushed for 4,361 yards and 65 touchdowns on 755 carries to become the first player in NCAA Division I history - FCS or FBS - to pass for more than 10,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards in a career.
Edwards holds virtually every school and Southern Conference record by a quarterback. He threw for a school-record 3,291 yards as a senior after setting a school record with 30 touchdown passes as a junior. While making many plays with his arm, Edwards also made many plays with his legs. He twice led Appalachian State in rushing – ranking first on the team with 1,588 yards as a sophomore and 941 yards as a junior.
Carolina now has eight of its 10 draft picks under contract. Only second-round choice Jimmy Clausen and third-round selection Brandon LaFell remain unsigned with three weeks to go before the start of training camp.
