Matt Corral is using his NFL Draft experience as motivation heading into his first professional season.

In recent years, NFL teams used early picks to snatch up quarterbacks. That trend had Corral as a first-round pick in many 2022 mock drafts. The Ole Miss standout was one of 21 players to take the NFL up on the invitation to attend the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas. This year’s draft, however, broke from the trend of seeing multiple quarterbacks taken in the first round. Corral ended up going No. 94 overall to the Carolina Panthers in the third round.

Corral is appreciative of the opportunity with the Panthers, but also motivated by seeing 93 players picked before him.

“I mean, I had a chip on my shoulder before. But it just got even bigger,” Corral said Friday, per NFL.com. “(Draft night) was for sure, a roller coaster. It was a bunch of mixed emotions. When I got that phone call, I have truly never been happy and sad at the same time. I’ve never felt that before.”

After Corral was drafted, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the club viewed the Ole Miss standout as the QB in the draft, but had off-field concerns including alcohol use and depression. Corral was asked about the report.

“Truthfully, I don’t know where that came from,” Corral said. “It’s just one of those things that got out there. That was honestly the first time I heard that. That’s nothing I can control. I got picked up. I’m here with an opportunity, and that’s all I can ask for.”