CHARLOTTE (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — Entering the third and final day of the NFL Draft, the Panthers have five picks: two in round 4 (114 and 122), two in round 5 (140 and 163), and one in round 6 (208).
Carolina added Tetairoa “TMac” McMillan in the first round and a pair of SEC edge rushers (Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen) in the second and third rounds, which were all glaring needs before the draft.
With its first pick in round 4, the Panthers drafted Georgia running back Trevor Etienne. Similar to his brother, Travis (a first-round pick of the Jaguars in 2021), he is very quick and has good hands out of the backfield. Before Georgia, Etienne played his first two college seasons at Florida. In 2024, he was a third-team All-SEC after finishing the season with 609 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns. He joins a crowded backfield of Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, and Jonathon Brooks.
Eight picks later, the Panthers drafted Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom. In 2024, he earned third-team AP All-American and first-team All-Big Ten honors in a season in which he had three forced fumbles and 76 tackles. Ransom fills a much-needed hole in Carolina and will immediately help a secondary that allowed 35 passing touchdowns in 2024, the most allowed by any defense last season.
With the Panthers’ first of two picks in the fifth round, they selected Florida DT Cam Jackson. He played the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Memphis before becoming a Gator. Jackson is a massive nose tackle at 6 feet 6 inches and 328 pounds. He won’t have a lot of pass-rush production, but Jackson is coming to Carolina as a big run-stopper to pair next to Pro Bowler Derrick Brown.
With its penultimate pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Panthers selected tight end Mitchell Evans from Notre Dame. Evans is an athletic prospect who ran a 4.74 40-yard dash, the 7th fastest time among all tight ends at the combine. He was recovering from a torn ACL to start the 2024 season, but finished with 421 yards and three touchdowns. Aside from the ACL injury, he also broke his foot in 2022, so injury could be a concern with him. On the plus side, his 6-foot-5-inch frame and 258-pound body help him as an adequate run blocker. He’ll join Tommy Tremble and 2023 draftee Ja’Tavion Sanders in the Panthers’ tight end room.
For the team’s final pick of the Draft, which came in the sixth round, the Panthers selected wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. from the University of Colorado. Horn is small, but has the speed to make up for it. He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash and 1.53 10-yard split at the combine. Horn started 11 games last season but missed two due to a lower-body injury. So, Carolina bookends its 2025 draft class with TMac at No. 5 and Horn at 208. Aside from veteran Adam Thielen, the Panthers have a young wide receiver core with Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, who were both rookies in 2024.
In total, the Panthers made 8 draft picks, 4 on offense and 4 on defense.
After the draft, teams have the opportunity to sign players who did not get selected, aka undrafted free agents (UDFAs).
The first was Miami wide receiver Jacolby George. He led eight touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. George, although good speed and route running, is a bit undersized at 5-feet-11-inches and 172 pounds.
The Panthers may look to see if George can compete on special teams as a returner as opposed to a wide receiver. In his first two seasons at Miami, he averaged 11.8 yards per punt return.
The other UDFAs to sign with the Panthesr so far are CB Mike Reid from South Dakota, S Isaac Gifford from the University of Nebraska, K Ryan Fitzgerald from Florida State, CB Corey Thornton from Louisville, LB from South Carolina Bam Martin-SCott, and Texas A&M WR Muhsin “Moose” Muhammad III, son of the Panthers legend who spent 11 seasons in Carolina.
In four seasons as an Aggie, Moose totaled 81 catches for 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns. Moose was born in Charlotte and went to Myers Park High School, where he was a four-star recruit.
