The Panthers had five picks in Rounds 3-7, and Dan Morgan performed quite with his picks.
The Panthers hired Dan Morgan as president of football operations and general manager on January 22, 2024. Morgan is a Panthers “lifer” after spending his seven-year NFL career in Charlotte from 2001 through 2007 then spending years in the Panthers front office. Let’s take a look back on Morgan’s rookie season as GM. We’ve previously evaluated his performance with trades and with free agents.
Let’s now assess Morgan’s 2024 draft day performance. Part One focused on draft day trades and the first and second round picks, while Part Two will focus on players drafted in Rounds 3-7.
3rd round, No. 72 – LB Trevin Wallace
2024 Stats: 13 games (8 starts), 64 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles
Third round picks often have quiet rookie years, but Trevin Wallace made an impact during his first NFL season. His 64 tackles ranked sixth on the team despite playing just 48 percent of the Panthers defensive snaps. Wallace’s PFF grade of 56.0 ranked him No. 138 of 189 linebackers, and that’s just fine for a third round rookie. For what it’s worth, PFF rated him pretty poorly on run support (46.9, No. 173 of 189) but gave him high grades defending the pass (64.2, No. 50 of 189).
Grade relative to expectations: B+
4th round, No. 101 – TE Ja’Tavion Sanders
2024 stats: 16 games (8 starts), 33 receptions, 342 yards, 1 TD
Finally! A Panthers tight end who looks like he may become a viable receiving threat!
Sanders hauled in 33 receptions on 43 targets as a rookie, giving him an impressive 76.7 catch percentage. Carolina has been pretty desperate for a viable receiving tight end since Greg Olsen left town, and it just might be Ja’Tavion Sanders. He went on a nice four-game run in the middle of the season with 16 receptions for 204 yards, averaging four receptions for 51 yards per game during that span. Here’s to hoping that becomes more of the norm going forward.
Sanders was No. 2 among rookie tight ends in receiving yards, trailing only superstar Brock Bowers, the No. 13 overall pick, with 1,194 yards.
Of the 156 players drafted after Sanders at No. 101, only one tight end or wide receiver exceeded his 342 receiving yards and that was Denver’s Devaughn Vele, a seventh-round wide receiver with 41 receptions for 475 yards.
That said, PFF somehow ranked Sanders No. 63 of 75 tight ends, but I simply don’t care. I know what I saw in Sanders’ rookie season, and that’s a young tight end who can become a viable receiving weapon for the Panthers.
Grade relative to expectations: A-
5th round, No. 157 – CB Chau Smith-Wade
2024 stats: 14 games (4 starts), 39 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass defended
While most fifth round rookies mainly hope to make the 53 man roster and primarily contribute on special teams, Chau Smith-Wade started four games and played 301 defensive snaps during his rookie campaign, which is great for a Day 3 selection When compared to players drafted after him, only one player had more solo stops than Smith-Wade’s 24.
While his play wasn’t stellar (PFF ranked him No. 106 of 116 corners), he gained valuable experience in 2024. Smith-Wade is much further along than most fifth round rookies, and that’s a good thing.
Grade relative to expectations: B+
6th round, No. 200 – DT Jaden Crumedy
2024 stats: 5 games, 13 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 QB hit, 1 QB pressure
Crumedy suffered a high-ankle sprain in the preseason, landed on the IR, and didn’t see his first action until December. He played in the Panthers final five games, and played quite well. In just 121 defensive snaps he managed 13 tackles and half a sack, which are solid numbers from a rookie who was playing himself into shape late in the season. At that pace, over a 17-game season he would have registered 42 tackles and about two sacks. We only saw a limited sample size from Crumedy’s rookie season, but what we saw was more than promising relative to expectations for a No. 200 pick.
Grade relative to expectations: A-
7th round, No. 240 – LB Michael Barrett
Barrett was traded to the Seattle Seahawks before the season began, so there is nothing to grade with this one.
Grade relative to expectations: NA
Dan Morgan’s draft day summary
At a high level, Dan Morgan’s draft day trades were on point, yielding an additional 2025 second round pick without sacrificing much quality by smartly trading down.
However, his two most important picks – first rounder Xavier Legette and second rounder Jonathon Brooks – left a lot to be desired. Front offices need to nail picks in the first and second round, and the early returns for Morgan’s first year leading the draft weren’t stellar, at least after one season.
Where Morgan may have eventually redeemed himself is the players he drafted in rounds 3-6 – Trevin Wallace, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Chau Smith-Wade, and Jaden Crumedy, all significantly outperformed relative to where they were drafted.
On the whole, it was a successful 2024 draft by the Panthers rookie general manager.
Overall draft day grade: B