We bring you part two of this week’s fan mailbag, with answers to all your questions!
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! This week, the focus seems to be on what the Panthers will do with their top draft pick. Do they stay put? Do they trade back? Do they gasp trade UP? That’s what this mailbag is for, answering all your burning questions, whether they be Panthers related, football related, or even completely off topic! Let’s dive right in!
MarloBarksdale99: Other than Sir Purr and Company, which team intrigues you the most as in what they are going to do. Rumblings here in Jax are all over the place. First there are rumors that Travon Walker is up for grabs. Never knew why they didn’t pick Hutchinson that year… Also draft wise Graham, Campbell, Warren, and McMillan are the hawt names around here and I can make a case for all of them.
I’m very intrigued by what the Seattle Seahawks are going to do. They weren’t exactly a bad team last season, but they all of a sudden made massive changes on offense by letting Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf go at WR and QB Geno Smith. They did bring in Cooper Kupp to replace the wide receivers somewhat and brought in our old friend Sam Darnold at QB, so it doesn’t seem like they are entering full rebuild territory. They now have 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft as well. Their mock drafts seem to be kind of all over the place, so we’ll see how they navigate the Draft.
DBelt: Do you think Tet McMillan has the speed to be a true X receiver in the NFL? If so, should the Panthers take him at 8?
Ahhh Daniel. I am as big a Tet McMillan fan as there is! I’d even take your strategy from earlier this week, trade up and nab the big man to fill out the wide receiver room in Carolina (if Abdul Carter isn’t the trade targets of course!).
Real talk, I am not sure where the negatives came from with Tet. He seems like a surefire hit to me at wide receiver, though dissenting opinions have come about since the start of the off-season. He may not have the super blazing speed, but guys like Mike Evans have still made it work as true WR1s in the NFL without that. Still, share down below your thoughts!
brake 23rd: With there being no action gong towards the WR position, could you see the Panthers taking a shot at getting 2 WRs in the draft? I’d love to see Tet McMillan and Jalen Royals added to our WR room.
Part 2: I’d rather draft Tet, but if he’s gone by Pick 8 do you think the Panthers should trade back with the 49ers to Pick 11 in exchange for Aiyuk? Then we could maybe get Tyler Warren at 11.
The internet rumor mills seemed to indicate Carolina was trying to make a play at some version of a trade for the upper echelon receivers that became available in the hot start to free agency, leading me to believe they will address the position in some capacity in the 2025 Draft. If it isn’t in the first round, I could see a 2nd round pick and a 5th round pick being used at that spot. They could definitely use an infusion of pure speed, if they cannot add a more complete receiver to occupy that X role.
As far as Brandon Aiyuk goes, its hard to say whether adding him would be a positive due to his health. If the Panthers did pick him up in a trade down by only 4 spots with the 49ers, that could be an ideal scenario to get him. However, after the 49ers traded away Deebo Samuel, I’d imagine Aiyuk being a thrown in as part of a trade up that small is not in the cards. I would think they want more or would rather sit on Aiyuk until he gets healthy again.
Snarky_Comet: Scenario time: It’s R1 and both Mason Graham and Tetairoa McMillan are still available at R1-8. Do you take one of them? If so, who? Or do you try and trade back to fill another need and get an airdrop of later picks to help beef up our roster?
The biggest snag in the hypothetical trade down scenarios is there needs to be a player another team is willing to move up for in order to make it happen. However, both of those players could fit that role, as rookie wide receivers are starting to become a bit of a commodity with how expensive the position is getting on second contracts, and defensive line/edge talent is always valuable to an NFL team trying to make a playoff/Super Bowl push. I personally would just take one of them and not look back, but adding the extra draft capital and moving backward for another potential wide receiver or edge rusher talent in this scenario would have its benefits. If Carolina did execute this trade down, I’d expect them to be mobile throughout the rest of the Draft as well.
ericbuck: What players available at pick 8 would make you NOT want to trade back and collect more picks? Besides the miracle fall of Hunter/Carter, for me it is Mason Graham and TMac.
Similarly, anyone at the top of round 2 that would move you to package pick(s) 111/114 to trade up?
Funny how this question came right after the one above, so yes, I stand by that my opinion would be to take one of those two if they were there, and I do not expect Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter to sniff pick 8 as far as availability.
As far as the round 2 question, I think there’s a safety or two in that conversation such as Xavier Watts that could fit right into that category. There will be some defensive talent or wide receivers that fall out of the first round that I wouldn’t even blink if the Panthers chose to jump up and try to grab there.
Bruce Guild: Who benefits Bryce and the offense more. A blue chip can’t miss TE (Warren) or a1st round top 15 receiver (Tet, Golden,etc) ?
Do we have a receiver on the roster now with the speed to keep the opposing defense honest because they are a true deep threat opening up the middle of the field?
I think adding a Tyler Warren type at tight end benefits Bryce Young the most because it would give him a reliable security blanket he can lean on, as right now the only guy I really see in that role is Adam Thielen on the offense. However, a Tet or Golden receiver would probably benefit the offense more as a whole, as they can allow the coaches to put guys like Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker into roles that better suit their strengths, as neither one seems to be particularly fit to be the X outside receiver in this offense. Both should have the opportunity to develop into that if that’s how the cards fall, but looking at the overall situation, I think you can maximize more of the talent on this team by filling that one pesky receiver spot if you can find one. Your mileage may vary on someone like Tet as far as the speed profile goes, but I personally think he’d slot right in to the WR1 role from day one just on his talents alone.
I think the closest thing they have to that right now is Xavier Legette. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t use more juice in that role.
dayneb12: Moehrig has been the only addition at safety so far. Given there’s only two safeties on the roster, do you expect the Panthers to double down on safety in the draft?
This would be a great draft to do it, even if the pickings aren’t exactly huge for a true free safety. There’s two Penn State safeties in this draft, Kevin Winston and Jaylen Reed, that I would love to see both drafted in the mid-to-late rounds to fill out the barracks.
@WTMealey: If we keep all our draft picks how many will be used on defense, offense…any on special teams?
I’d say 5 on defense, 3 on offense, 1 at punter or kicker.
Join us next week for more answers to your questions, and KEEP POUNDING!