Each day leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft — April 23-25 — TeamFB7 will break down a different team’s biggest draft need and the best selection to address it. Granted, teams will most often use their first-round pick on the best available player/value and not necessarily always their biggest need, so this isn’t going to compile together into a mock draft in the end. It’s more a breakdown of how each team could best address its most paramount priority if it chooses.
The Carolina Panthers were the biggest surprise in the NFL playoff field last season and then put a scare into the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round.
They’ve also spent big in free agency to build on that momentum and upgrade their roster.
And yet … they might still be no higher than the third-best team in the NFC South.
Allow us to explain.
Ultimately, the Panthers won a three-way tiebreaker atop the division at 8-9 with the underachieving Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to become just the fifth team in more than 40 years to make the playoffs with a losing record — and they couldn’t have backed their way into it any more so.
Over the final 10 weeks of the regular season, they failed to win back-to-back games at any point. In fact, they went 4-6 in that span, punctuated by losing their last two games to division foes the New Orleans Saints and Buccaneers, doing literally all they could to give away that playoff berth.
By losing to the Bucs on the final Saturday, thus splitting the season series, the Panthers then needed the Falcons to beat the Saints that Sunday in an otherwise meaningless game for those teams and create the three-way tie atop the standings. Through the convoluted tie-breaker system, that would send Carolina to the postseason despite being the only one of those three tied teams to lose on the final weekend.
Which is what happened, barely, as the Falcons won 19-17 — inspiring countless social media posts like this one. (Hey, Twitter does have its upside.)
So let’s hold off on looking at the Panthers as an up-and-coming contender. For now, at least.
(Yes, even though they then led the Rams in that playoff game before Los Angeles drove for a 34-31 win in the final 2-plus minutes).
The Falcons and Buccaneers were two of the most disappointing teams in the NFL last season and are arguably both still better positioned in 2026 than the Panthers.
Atlanta made a strong hire in head coach Kevin Stefanski and brought in veteran QB Tua Tagovailoa to replace or compete with underwhelming third-year QB Michael Penix Jr. (coming off knee surgery). The Falcons still have a built-to-win offense with elite weapons like RB Bijan Robinson, WR Drake London and TE Kyle Pitts. They should be in contention to win the NFC South with even serviceable quarterback play.
The Buccaneers lost some major pieces to free agency and retirement and elected to run it back with head coach Todd Bowles, but the main reason they missed the playoffs was QB Baker Mayfield playing through mounting injuries the second half of the season. His production went off a cliff and the team followed after him right over the edge and into the abyss in a total collapse while losing seven of eight games before beating the Panthers in that finale. If Mayfield is healthy, the Bucs are still very much capable of winning the division as well.
And even the Saints won four of their final five games last season under first-year head coach Kellen Moore and rookie quarterback Tyler Shough and then spent significant money in free agency.
Carolina snuck into the playoffs despite ranking 27th in scoring (18.3 points per game) and doing everything but clinch that spot through their own merits, so excuse our trepidation in putting much stock in that.
(Interestingly enough, DraftKings has set the NFC South title odds as Tampa Bay +150, New Orleans +290, Carolina +320 and Atlanta +425. We couldn’t disagree more on the Falcons line.)
The bottom line is the Panthers’ 2025 playoff appearance — their first in eight years — looks more fluke than breakthrough … for now.
What they do next under third-year head coach Dave Canales and roller-coaster fourth-year QB Bryce Young will have the final say on that, though.
Carolina did help itself in free agency (we’ll get into that next) and now holds the following picks in the 2026 NFL Draft this coming week: 1st round (19th overall), 2nd (51st), 3rd (83rd), 4th (119th), 5th (158th), 5th (159th), 6th (200th).
Before making our recommendation for what the Panthers should do at No. 19, let’s assess their most pressing needs.
What Are Carolina Panthers Biggest Needs In 2026 NFL Draft?
Let’s break down the Panthers’ roster after free agency, starting on offense.
Even after three seasons, it’s still too soon to say for sure whether Young is or isn’t Carolina’s long-term quarterback of the future. The team has said it will pick up his fifth-year option for 2027, so the former No. 1 overall pick has two more seasons to sway that verdict.
Young had his best season in 2025, setting career-highs in completion percentage (63.6%), passing yards (3,011) and touchdowns (23) while throwing 11 interceptions.
But he still ranked 31st in passing yards per game (188.2), behind backups like Jameis Winston, Joe Flacco, Mac Jones, Jacoby Brissett and Carson Wentz (including their stat lines from some games they didn’t even start) and Tagovailoa, who lost his job. Young was dead-last in total passing yards among QBs who played at least 16 games and finished behind QBs who played as few as 13 games (Daniel Jones) and 14 games (Patrick Mahomes, Brissett and C.J. Stroud).
But he’s had his moments — including a franchise-record 448 passing yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs in an overtime win vs. the Falcons last year — and a better supporting cast can only help the former Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama.
That might well need to be the focus of this draft for the Panthers because they spent most of their free agent budget on the defense.
The Panthers’ biggest offensive signings were former Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker (1 year, $4 million), well-traveled backup quarterback Kenny Pickett (1 year, $4 million), former Saints center Luke Fortner (1 year, $2.75 million), former Raiders right tackle Stone Forsythe (1 year, $2 million), former Jets wide receiver John Metchie (1 year, $1.9 million) and veteran backup running back AJ Dillon (1 year, terms not reported).
As for the additions to the offensive line, Carolina had two major areas to address.
It lost both of its centers in free agency with Cade Mays signing with the Lions and versatile C/G Austin Corbett signing with the Bills. Adding Fortner takes care of that as he has 44 career starts in four seasons for the Jaguars and Saints. PFF graded him 18th out of 40 qualifying centers (72.5) last season.
The Panthers return the rest of their starting offensive line, but left tackle Ikem Ekwonu ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee in the playoff game and remains without a clear timeline to return. So Walker, a three-year starter for the Packers at left tackle, should be viewed as the starter there to open the season and perhaps beyond. PFF graded him 52nd out of 89 tackles (64.6) last season.
Carolina only has three offensive linemen signed beyond 2026, though, in Pro Bowl right guard Robert Hunt (limited to two games in 2025 by a torn biceps before returning for playoff game), soon-to-be 32-year-old right tackle Taylor Moton and left guard Damien Lewis, so this is certainly a position the team could look to address in the draft at least with regard to the future.
Moving onto the skill positions …
The running back depth chart is underwhelming with 1,000-yard rusher Rico Dowdle signing with the Steelers, but it’s not necessarily a position the team needs to prioritize early in the draft either.
As is, Chuba Hubbard is set to reclaim a feature-back role after rushing for 511 yards and a TD on 134 carries last year behind Dowdle. He has had two seasons in his five-year NFL career where he topped 200 carries with mixed results, rushing for 902 yards and 5 TDs on 238 attempts (but a meager 3.8 yards per carry) in 2023 and then 1,195 yards and 10 TDs on 250 carries (on a strong 4.8 YPC) in 2024.
He’s backed up by Dillon and, ostensibly, 2024 second-round pick Jonathan Brooks, who missed his rookie season recovering from a torn ACL and then tore it again two games into last season. Drafting a running back in the middle rounds would be wise.
The Panthers hit big on its 2025 No. 8 overall pick, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year with 70 catches for 1,014 yards and 7 TDs. The 6-foot-5 McMillan should only keep getting better, but the rest of the depth chart at wideout is uninspiring.
Jalen Coker had 33 catches for 394 yards and 3 TDs, but he’s been limited to 11 games in each of his first two NFL seasons. Fellow second-year receiver Xavier Legette, the No. 32 overall pick in the 2024 draft, had a 35-363-3 line in 15 games last year. The addition of Metchie, now on his fourth team in four NFL seasons, merely adds more low-upside depth.
Drafting a wide receiver in the first two rounds of this draft would make a lot of sense for Carolina.
Or a tight end.
Incumbents Ja’Tavion Sanders (29-190-1) and Tommy Tremble (27-249-2) might make up the least established/productive tight end duo in the entire league. There might be one obvious way to fix this in the draft — maybe.
Panthers’ Biggest Draft Needs On Defense
As noted, Carolina splurged on a couple big-ticket items on free agency to upgrade the defense, giving former Eagles and Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips a 4-year, $120-million contract and former Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd a 3-year, $42-million deal.
In our assessment, Phillips (way more potential than production through five seasons, including 53 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 5 sacks between the Dolphins and Eagles last year) was one of the most overpaid free agent signings, but he should help all the same. And Lloyd (a second-team All-Pro last season with 81 tackles, 6 TFLs and 5 interceptions) was one of the best value signings.
So let’s work front to back.
On the edges, Phillips is joined by Patrick Jones (1 sack in four games in 2025 but 7 for the Vikings as a rotational reserve in 2024), 2025 second-round pick Nic Scourton (47 tackles, 5 sacks in 17 games with eight starts), 2025 third-round pick Princely Umanmielen (1.5 sacks in 222 snaps) and Trevis Gipson (signed off the 49ers’ practice squad last year and re-signed to a 1-year deal; 12 sacks in six NFL seasons.) D.J. Wonnum (42 tackles, 3 sacks) signed with the Lions.
That group could use another proven pass rusher, but with the money invested in Phillips it may not be top priority.
On the defensive line, the Panthers lost A’Shawn Robinson (65 tackles, 2.5 sacks) in free agency to the Buccaneers, but the rest of the unit returns in Derrick Brown (73 tackles, 5 sacks), Tershawn Wharton (36 tackles, 2 sacks in nine games) and Bobby Brown III. This isn’t an area to address until at least the middle rounds of the draft.
At linebacker, Christian Rozeboom left in free agency for the Buccaneers, but signing Lloyd was a massive upgrade. He’ll pair with third-year starter Trevin Wallace. Perhaps an area to take a shot at in the middle to later rounds.
Moving onto the secondary, Mike Jackson (68 tackles, 4 INTs and an NFL-leading 19 passes defended) graded out 4th out of 114 cornerbacks by PFF (79.1) while Jaycee Horn didn’t score quite so well with PFF, but he’s made two straight Pro Bowls and notched a career-high 5 INTs last season. Chau Smith-Wade stepped into a bigger role at nickel in his second season (56 tackles, 1 pick-6.) This is not where Carolina needs to use its top draft capital, though Jackson is in the final year of his contract.
And at safety, it could be a different story. Nick Scott had a career-high 111 tackles and 1 INT last season and re-signed on a 1-year, $2-million deal, showing the minimal investment the team has in him as he was passable at best in coverage. Fellow returning starter Tre’von Moehrig, under contract through 2027, had 103 tackles and an INT in his first season with the team, while 2025 fourth-round pick Lathan Ransom saw action in 16 games with 6 starts and had 51 tackles and an INT.
So what are the Panthers’ priority needs in this draft?
We’d say tight end, wide receiver, edge rusher and then defensive back (either or) in that order.
Meanwhile, here’s what Canales said recently: “It’s like, who can impact our team at that level? It could be a wideout. It could be a tight end. Could be a safety. There’s a couple of dynamic safeties that could free us up. The pass-rush class, we’ve got to still kind of see where they are at the top. Where do we think the top guys are going? Look at the mocks and all that and see where there might be a little bit of a drop-off there. But I think it’s an opportunity for us to really add a value player at 19.”
And this …
Who Should Panthers Take At No. 19 In 2026 NFL Draft?
Alright, now for the part you all came for — right?
Our expert recommendation to the Panthers on how to use their No. 19 overall pick.
If the Panthers are all-in on giving Young every chance to prove he’s their franchise quarterback, the answer is easy — give him better weapons to work with in the passing game and see what he can do.
With that said, the Panthers should be hoping with their fingers crossed that Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq falls to them here. He’d instantly turn arguably the worst TE unit in the league into one of the better ones and provide an elite athlete for Young to target in the middle of the field.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound Sadiq had 51 receptions for 560 receiving yards and 8 TDs as the No. 2 target for Oregon, and then had a historic day at the NFL Scouting Combine. Sadiq ran the fastest 40-yard dash time by a tight end at the NFL Scouting Combine on record (going back to 2003) at 4.39 seconds, breaking Vernon Davis’ record (4.40) from 2006. Sadiq also had the second-best vertical jump by a TE at the combine in that time (43.5 inches) and third-best broad jump (11’1”).
But we don’t think he gets past the Ravens at No. 14 or Buccaneers at No. 15.
If he is, turn that pick in immediately.
If not, the Panthers should draft a wide receiver — Washington’s Denzel Boston, Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. and Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion (also a factor in the kick return game) could all be considerations.
