CHARLOTTE (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — The Carolina Panthers’ first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft will be pick 33, the first one of the second round.
This will be the first time since 2010 that the Panthers are not scheduled to have a first-round pick in the NFL Draft (they traded their pick to the 49ers who used it to draft offensive guard Mike Iupati, a four-time Pro-Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2012).
If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need a reminder about why the Panthers don’t have their first-round pick. However, Carolina’s would-be first-round selection, now in the hands of the Chicago Bears, is the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft after they finished with the league’s worst record.
Conversely, the Panthers do have picks No. 33 and 39 (via the Giants in the Brian Burns trade) in the second round to help build the team around Bryce Young. They could certainly use one or both of those picks to trade up into the first round on Thursday night if a guy they love starts to fall, but the Panthers need good players, and a lot of them, so maybe it’s best to keep hold of their picks (but I’m not the general manager so who knows).
One of the team’s top needs is wide receiver and fortunately for them, this year is filled with good wide receiver talent. Some scouts believe that wide receivers who fall out of the first round this year could easily go into the first round in drafts with weaker wide receiver classes.
According to the Panthers Mock Draft Report, experts predict the Panthers will pick a wide receiver with one of their two second-round picks.
Some of those wide receivers include Gerogia’s Ladd McConkey, Texas teammates Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, Florida State’s Keon Coleman and Gamecock Xavier Legette.
RELATED: Who should the Panthers take in the NFL Draft: Wide receiver edition
Defensively, a team can never have enough cornerbacks. Some experts have the Panthers drafting Max Melton out of Rutgers or Ennis Rakestraw Jr. out of Missouri with one of their two selections.
It doesn’t take expert analysis to know the Panthers’ offensive line struggled last season. And, like cornerbacks, you can never have enough. It’s always good to have depth if and when someone goes down. The Panthers have done a good job so far this offseason addressing the position by signing Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis to deals combined for more than $150 million.
If they continue to reinforce the position on day two of the draft, some guys available could be Jordan Morgan from Arizona, Christain Haynes from UConn and Christian Mahogany from Boston College.
Day 2 of the NFL Draft, which includes the second and third rounds, is Friday night starting at 7 p.m. That same night Charlotte Sports Live will have a live draft special analyzing the Panther’s draft selection(s) and exclusive interviews with the team. The special is from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on FOX Charlotte.
