Panthers sign a college basketball player to play tight end as they try and find their own Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez

The Carolina Panthers made an intriguing signing on Monday. They are attempting to do something multiple teams have had success with in the past. They elected to sign a college basketball player and have him attempt to play tight end in the NFL.  Panthers signed Coastal Carolina basketball player Colin Granger to compete as a tight […]

Destin Adams NFL News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Dec 31, 2017; Carson, CA, USA; Los Angeles Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) reacts during an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders at StubHub Center.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers made an intriguing signing on Monday. They are attempting to do something multiple teams have had success with in the past. 

They elected to sign a college basketball player and have him attempt to play tight end in the NFL. 


Panthers signed Coastal Carolina basketball player Colin Granger to compete as a tight end in training camp

The Panthers have signed Colin Granger, who just finished his fifth and final college basketball season. And they weren't the only team interested, with Tony Pauline reporting that seven teams, including the Panthers, showed up for his pro day workout. He began his career at Ohio University before transferring to Western Carolina after two seasons. He also spent two years there before transferring to his final school, Coastal Carolina, last year. 

He has fantastic size for the position, being listed at 6-9, which would make him the tallest TE in the league. He is coming off the best year of his college basketball career, where he averaged career highs across the board with 7.2 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game and averaged the most playing time of his career with 17.8 minutes per game. 

There have been some incredible success stories in the NFL of players who played college basketball and went on to play TE. Two of them are Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez. Gates spent most of his college career at Kent State and was much more successful on the court than Granger, averaging 18.1 points per game in two years with the team. On the other hand, Gonzalez is more comparable in terms of success on the court. He played three years at California, and his career high was 7.1 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. 

youtube placeholder image