Virginia Tech DE Amare Barno Selected in the Sixth Round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers

It took 177 picks for the Virginia Tech Hokies to have their first 2022 NFL Draft in James Mitchell but it only took 12 more picks for the Hokies to have their second in Amare Barno who won't have to be far from home or Blacksburg to start his NFL career.

Amare Barno was selected in the sixth round (189th overall) by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft. Many of the Day 3 announcements for the NFL Draft are coming from around the world with Barno's selection being announced from Frankfurt, Germany by former U.S. Men's Soccer National Team defender Timothy Chandler and a German Carolina Panthers fan.

Barno is now the seventh highest selected Virginia Tech defensive end or 11th highest selected VT linebacker in NFL Draft history depending on how you classify him at the next level.

After transferring in from the JUCO ranks, Barno had a breakout 2020 season with 43 tackles including 16 for loss, 6.5 of which were sacks before having a statistically quieter 2021 with 35 tackles including 5.5 for loss with 3.5 sacks. However, Pro Football Focus was a big fan of Barno's play this past season as he received lots more attention and was used as a spy a lot as well.

Barno impressed a lot of scouts with an insanely good NFL Combine including a 4.36 40 yard dash that set records for defensive linemen and linebackers. Additionally, Barno brings a great frame at 6'4''-6'6'' and around 245-250 pounds that seemed to have him poised to be selected well before the sixth round.

Instead, his quieter 2021 season seemed to surprisingly push him down to the sixth round though there's no doubt that Barno has a massive ceiling given the athletic traits he brings to the table.

As referenced above, Barno will start his NFL career not far from his hometown of Blythewood, SC and at the NFL team closest to Blacksburg in the Charlotte-based Carolina Panthers.

We will have more as this story develops.