- Should the Carolina Panthers trade up?: The Panthers could make a move up to select Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter.
- Who should the Panthers take at Pick No. 8?: Top targets at Carolina’s current draft spot include edge rushers Jalon Walker and Shemar Stewart.
- 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF's best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Every NFL draft has a series of pivot points, where the scope of everything hinges on one team's decision to aggressively move up or gamble for more value and trade back.
Looking at last year’s first round, the inflection point wasn’t a trade, but instead, it was the first defensive player taken – UCLA edge Laiatu Latu – by the Indianapolis Colts, finally at pick 15. This set off a run of six of the next eight picks falling on the defensive side of the ball, five of the six being defensive linemen.
In the middle of this run, the Jacksonville Jaguars took advantage by trading back from pick No. 17 with the Minnesota Vikings (who selected Dallas Turner) to pick No. 23 for Brian Thomas Jr. This move paid huge dividends for the Jaguars, as Thomas' outstanding rookie season was capped by a Pro Bowl appearance, and they acquired Minnesota’s 2025 third- and fourth-round picks.
While trying to predict something like a run of 14-straight picks on one side of the ball to start a draft seems daunting, with the first week of free agency complete we should be ready to have more detailed discussions on team needs as well as how those needs tie into prospect values.
This series will take a look at five teams currently in draft slots that could serve as potential inflection points for the draft. By looking at the potential targets of these teams relative to the draft boards, we’ll examine each team’s options not only at their current slot, but targets and slots for trading both backward and forwards. First up is the Carolina Panthers, who could find themselves in range to pounce on one of the top overall prospects in the class.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are now entering Year 3 of 2023 No. 1 overall pick QB Bryce Young’s rookie deal, meaning it’s time to start putting wins on the board before he’s due his second contract. Their competitiveness in the final nine games of 2024 (they went 4-5 with one-possession losses to the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles) suggests they may be ready to take the next step. In order to accomplish that, however, they will need significant contributions from this year’s rookie class, which will need to come from two premium positions.
THE NEEDS
On the defensive side of the ball, Carolina has solidified the defensive interior with the Bobby Brown III and Tershawn Wharton additions, and signing Tre’von Moehrig should help the back end. The unit still lacks a true pass-rush threat off the edge. Jadeveon Clowney provides a solid veteran presence, but Carolina is almost certainly looking to target an athletic game-destroyer on the edge with their first selection.
Receiver also remains a position of need for the Panthers. While Xavier Legette flashed the playmaking ability that convinced Carolina to trade into the first round of last year’s draft to secure him, Adam Thielen is still the No. 2, and he’ll turn 35 years old in training camp. The position will almost certainly be a Panthers target with one of their early selections in April.
THE TRADE-UP TARGET
Due to the strong possibility of two quarterbacks going within the first three picks while both the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants already have answers at edge defender, there is a distinct possibility Penn State’s Abdul Carter (the No. 2 overall prospect on the PFF big board) is still available when New England is on the clock at fourth overall. With Keion White and now the recently inked Harold Landry on the roster, the New England Patriots may also feel they have the answers they need at edge.
This scenario could present the Panthers with an opportunity to move up from No. 8 overall to No. 4 to lock in the class’ top edge player, as opposed to staying put and taking second-best, or possibly a different position altogether. While Carter did not work out at the combine and teams will need to be comfortable with the progress of his shoulder and the stress reaction in his foot, his athleticism and production in 2024 suggest he is worth the jump up.
He was an impact player against the run, as he racked up 25 stops, 14 tackles for loss or no gain and earned an average depth of tackle of 0.59 yards, but his pass-rush prowess has teams at the top of the draft salivating. He notched 13 sacks, 68 total pressures and a 22.9% win rate. His 92.4 pass-rush grade led all edge players in the entire country in 2024. He truly looks to be one of the elite prospects in this year’s draft class and may be too good to pass up for a team like the Panthers.
STAY THE COURSE
Now, could the Panthers decide the second (or even third) best edge defender is just right for them? Of course. This would likely mean Georgia’s Jalon Walker or Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, both of whom have incredibly high performance ceilings in the NFL, but they’re both projections as well.
Walker was an off-ball linebacker in college, finishing with almost as many coverage reps in 2024 (178) as pass rushes (195). He was fine in coverage, allowing 10 receptions on 12 throws into his coverage for just 89 yards, but his explosiveness off the edge is his calling card. While 15 of his 33 pressures were classified as unblocked or cleanup, his pass-rush win rate was still a healthy 18.5% thanks to 18 wins that did not result in recorded pressure. His 6-foot-1 and 243-pound frame takes him out of the class of Carter, but explosiveness and agility warrant a high selection.
Stewart is also more of a projection, not because he played a different position in college but because his role, specifically in 2024 when he was often asked to play inside the tackle and control the B gap, did not result in him being a productive pass-rusher. He recorded just two sacks and 42 total pressures last year, and his 11.8% win rate was down almost four points from 2023 (15.2%). However, his play against the run was excellent, as his 88.2 grade in the discipline ranked fourth in the country among all edges. The explosiveness he displayed at the combine (40-inch vertical, 10-foot-10-inch broad jump, 1.58-second 10-yard split) is all over his film despite never being asked to truly rush the edge, and his ability to defend the run suggests he could have a career arc similar to Danielle Hunter, who was able to translate his play against the run that he flashed at LSU in 2014 into an excellent all-around game at the NFL level with the Minnesota Vikings and now Houston Texans.
To this point, I’ve exclusively discussed possibilities on the edge, but pick No. 8 could still net Carolina the top receiver in the draft class. Tetairoa McMillan measured in at 6-foot-4 and 213 pounds at his pro day and as The Athletic’s Dane Brugler correctly pointed out on X Monday, his 4.55-second 40-yard dash time should do nothing to change his stock.
As you might expect considering his size, McMillan dominated on contested balls in 2024, hauling in 18 of 32 opportunities while 32 of his 86 catches were designated as explosive (15-plus yard plays). For a player of his size, he runs shockingly clean routes and uses that agility to succeed after the catch as well, as evidenced by the 29 missed tackles he forced last season (which ranked second in the country).
Where McMillan will be selected is one of the great mysteries of the draft. Some rank him outside the top ten while others, most notably PFF ranks him as high as the third-best prospect in the entire class. While I personally feel he’d be an absolute steal for the Panthers, if the franchise doesn’t see it the same way, they could opt to move back, acquire more draft capital and target another blue-chip receiver instead.
THE VALUE PLAY
The first thing to establish to make the value play viable is demand, and several players could be available at pick No. 8 that could be highly coveted by other teams. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty put up Barry Sanders-level stats in college and is being frequently mocked to the Chicago Bears at pick No. 10, making him a possible trade-up candidate. This could also be a target spot for a team looking for one of the top offensive linemen, especially considering how thin the depth of the position group looks. All three players I suggested the Panthers could take at No. 8 are certainly in play as well – the chances are that at this point in the draft, Carolina will receive multiple calls about more than one prospect from teams trying to entice them to move back.
Now as for Carolina’s trade-back target, there may be a bit of a dip in caliber at edge, but Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden would be an outstanding choice if the Panthers were to move back five-to-10 spots. His position-best 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the combine shocked some, as he didn’t show a strictly vertical game in college, but he is a smooth and technical route runner who consistently creates separation before the ball is in the air. Forty-two of his 59 catches for Texas in 2024 went for first downs, 26 of them for explosives. Adding an NFL-ready weapon like Golden who is capable of winning all over the field would help the Panthers unlock Leggette, and in turn, further advance the development of Young.
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