Griffin Wong previews and breaks down everything you need to know about the Carolina Panthers heading into the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Carolina Panthers took a major stride forward in 2025, winning the NFC South for the first time since 2015, when Cam Newton led a charge all the way to the Super Bowl. 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young entered the 2025 season with plenty of questions as to whether he could be the starting quarterback of the future — Carolina benched him for part of the 2024 season in favor of veteran Andy Dalton — but he bounced back with a solid finish to the season, and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan won Offensive Rookie of the Year after being the first Panthers rookie to hit the 1,000-yard threshold since Kelvin Benjamin in 2014. Carolina’s record (8-9) suggests that it still has plenty of work to do, but it came within 38 seconds of beating the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round after entering the game as a substantial underdog.
The Panthers, seeing how wide-open the NFC South continually is, were aggressive in the offseason, bringing outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips in on a massive deal. They also improved elsewhere in their linebacker corps, adding inside linebacker Devin Lloyd to man the middle. While some important players, including running back Rico Dowdle, defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, and center Cade Mays left, Carolina improved massively overall, especially since it re-upped at offensive line by adding left tackle Rasheed Walker. The Panthers (+9000) currently have only the 24th-best odds to win the Super Bowl at DraftKings Sportsbook, but another division title (+320) is certainly within the realm of possibility.
Carolina’s recent draft history has been a mixed bag. Arguably its strongest performance came in 2020, when it added Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown and safety Jeremy Chinn, but 2021 (two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn and running back Chuba Hubbard) also produced a pair of strong contributors. The jury is still out on Young’s worthiness for the top overall pick, and 2024 32nd overall pick Xavier Legette has been disappointing, but McMillan and Nic Scourton headlined a solid 2025 class. On Thursday, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan will have seven overall picks to use.
Carolina fulfilled its biggest need during free agency, signing Phillips after finishing third-to-last in sacks and second-to-last in pressure rate and Pro Football Focus’ pass rushing grades during the 2025 season. Though Phillips recorded just five sacks last season, he had 14 quarterback hits and 35 pressures, ranking 22nd among 110 qualified edge rushers by PFF’s pass rushing grades. Additionally, the Panthers had a bottom-half rushing defense and allowed the ninth-most net passing yards per attempt, so Lloyd — a well-rounded player who ranked third of 88 linebackers by PFF’s standards and ranked second in the league in interceptions — was a stellar signing. Carolina could still draft another linebacker at some point in the draft, but it won’t be as much of a priority as it might have been prior to the Phillips and Lloyd signings.
The Panthers could go a number of different directions with the 19th overall pick, depending on the players available. Offensive lineman (+225 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook) is a slight favorite, but wide receiver (+280) and tight end (+350) are also areas in which Carolina could use improvement. Protecting Young makes some sense; though he took sacks relatively infrequently, he faced pressure at the eighth-highest rate, and the Panthers finished the regular season with just league-average PFF pass blocking grades. Carolina could especially use an offensive guard to provide some depth in case right guard Robert Hunt struggles like he did last season. The top interior offensive lineman is Olaivavega Ioane, who could still be available by the time the Panthers get on the clock for the first time.
If Ioane goes before the 19th pick, the offensive guard class isn’t deep enough to justify taking a second-tier player like Keylan Rutledge that early, so Carolina could instead snag a wide receiver in the first round for the third consecutive season. Though McMillan looks poised to build off of his stellar rookie season, the Panthers’ No. 2 target, Jalen Coker, missed the first six weeks of the season with a quadriceps injury and 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette has been extremely disappointing. Carolina likely won’t be able to pick from among the top three wideouts, as Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, and Makai Lemon will likely all be off the board before 19th overall, but KC Concepcion could be an intriguing big-play threat alongside the more measured McMillan. The Panthers could also consider taking tight end Kenyon Sadiq if he falls that far, given that Tommy Tremble has never recorded more than 249 yards in any season.
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