Draft season is upon us ladies and gentlemen! With the NFL Draft less than a month away, I thought it would be a good time to drop a full 7 round mock; with trades! But this year, I wanted to do it a bit differently. Instead of your basic 7 round mock where you scroll through pages of picks and find your team’s selections with relatively no commentary, I decided to break the mock-up and do an article on each individual team’s haul! Giving you a breakdown of what each team brought in and how I think it could help. So without further adieu, let’s kick things off!
With the 4th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select…
- Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota St(1st round)- TRADE with Atlanta
- Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky(2nd round)
- Hunter Long, TE, Boston College(4th round)
- Tommy Doyle, OT, Miami(OH)(5th round)
- Ryan McCollum, OL, Texas A&M(6th round)
- CJ Marable, RB, Coastal Carolina(6th round)
TRADE ALERT!!! The Panthers make a move up four spots and trade the 8th pick, the 73rd pick, and a future first to the Falcons for pick #4 and a future 2nd. Now, I did do this mock, trade, and write-up prior to the Darnold trade. I was going to change things up with the thought they wouldn’t go QB now, but the Panthers GM made comments that prove otherwise. With Darnold would they still trade up or sit and pick? Time will tell, but after his comments, I decided to leave this trade as is.
Now, many may think the Falcons wouldn’t do this within the division, but I highly disagree. Why not trade back and take some assets from a rival? They still have a shot at an elite player so might as well stack some picks!
But, let’s move to the Panthers’ side of things. I don’t dislike Teddy B, but it is clear through this draft process that the Panthers are looking for a QB. With a few other teams ahead of them potentially thinking QB and others that could jump them, they make the move to grab their guy. Trey Lance is a dynamic and fast-rising QB. He has all the arm talent and athleticism in the world but will need a year or so to develop. He is a player that Joe Brady can do a ton of things with and can really open up this offense!
The Panthers weren’t done on the offensive side of the ball! They added a talented TE in Hunter Long to fill a big-time need for them. They also add two players to help out with the offensive line. Both Tommy Doyle and Ryan McCollum have some things to work on but have a ton of upside and the potential to be a key piece of the offensive line if they hit their ceiling. They also add an electric RB to help take some of the load off their all-pro.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers are able to land a fast-rising corner in Kelvin Joseph. Joseph is a lengthy corner with fluid movements and can be a lockdown type of corner for a very long time. He is the type of player you can throw on an island and know he can win most match-ups.
Overall, the Panthers do a great job of adding talent to this team. They snag their potential QB of the future along with some offensive weapons. And on the defensive side of the ball, they add difference makers and depth. If the Panthers do this right, they can really set the foundation for a great team in the future.
