The Carolina Panthers own the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft later this month, and you would be hard-pressed to find a team with more uncertainty at the selection than them.
Or is it actually just a stroke of genius on the part of the front office? Are the Panthers really that unsure about who they are picking? Or are they just throwing up smokescreens?
It’s true that Carolina may not have a 100 percent firm direction on where it will decide to go with its first-round draft choice. After all, the Panthers have so many holes that it’s hard to pin down one need in particular.
That being said, I’m having a hard time believing that Carolina is really deliberating this much when it comes to its top pick, and the developing idea that the Panthers are absolutely going defense first may not be what it seems.
Let’s say wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is available at No. 8, for example. Would Carolina really pass on him—a proven producer who could very well become a dominant pass-catcher on the NFL level—to take a raw, questionable prospect like edge rusher Jalon Walker, for example?
Heck, let’s say McMillan is off the board when the Panthers are on the clock. At that point, wouldn’t the Panthers just be better off trading the pick so they don’t reach for Walker or a similar player?
Carolina probably already has a list of potential scenarios down to a science. General manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales surely know what they plan on doing, regardless of how mysterious their strategy appears to be.
The Panthers also have the benefit of this being a pretty deep draft class at some positions of which they have a clear need, which should prevent them from panicking early on.
We know that Carolina does not have a history of being well regarded among NFL organizations, but perhaps a changing of the guard is occurring. The Panthers are playing this very cool, and it could pay major dividends for them on April 24.
