2025 NFL Draft Grades: Carolina Panthers

Best Pick: I love fourth-round safety Lathan Ransom from Ohio State. He is a thumper in the run game and a guy who made a lot of plays for a good Buckeyes defense.

Worst Pick: I didn't really like the pick of Ole Miss edge Princely Umanmielen in the third. He has skills, but he isn't great against the run and he needs to get stronger.

The Skinny: They clearly wanted to get a weapon for Bryce Young and some edge help, which they did with their second- and third-round picks. They took receiver Tet McMillan in the first, which will help Young, but I worry about his separation speed. The two pass rushers in Nic Scourton (second) and Umanmielen have talent, but they didn't always play to it. Tight end Mitch Evans in the fifth could be a nice pick.

Top needs entering the draft: Linebacker, defensive tackle, wide receiver and edge rusher

In all four mock drafts I did for this class, I projected Carolina to take Jalon Walker at No. 8. It's never that easy, though, right?

The Panthers went a different route, adding receiver Tetairoa McMillan. At 6-foot-4, he brings in just about anything thrown in his direction, including contested catches. Quarterback Bryce Young will throw the ball up to him in the red zone and walk away with a touchdown more often than not. Think Drake London in Atlanta. McMillan doesn't generate much separation, though, which could be an issue against NFL corners. It's part of the reason I had him ranked 19th. Even so, there are some good, young receivers in this locker room now with McMillan, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. (Carolina also added Jimmy Horn Jr. in the sixth round.)

The defenders came on Day 2, though. Good thing. Here's a sampling of the categories in which Carolina's defense ranked last in the league in 2024: points allowed per game (31.4), rushing yards allowed per game (179.8), total yards per game (404.5), QBR allowed (64.8), yards per play (6.0), first downs allowed per game (24.5), opponents' third-down conversion percentage (50.2%) and run stop win rate (25%).

Nic Scourton spent some time in my top 25 during the season, but I ended up ranking him 58th. He closes well on the QB, but his sack count fell from 10 to five in 2024. I like his run-stopping traits, though. Don't sleep on his impact there. Princely Umanmielen was the other second-day selection, and he will push quarterbacks off their spots. His 17.9% pressure rate ranked fourth in the country last season.

I'm surprised GM Dan Morgan, a former linebacker, didn't do anything at the second level, but defensive tackle Cam Jackson in Round 5 and safety Lathan Ransom will give defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero some more depth to work with.

I loved what the Panthers did on the first two days of the draft. With their first pick, they added a big-time playmaker and massive target for quarterback Bryce Young, selecting Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan at no. 8 overall. McMillan gives the team a go-to guy who can line up all over the formation and dominate in high-leverage situations. Carolina turned around in the second and third rounds and buttressed their talent-deficient defensive front, adding a pair of edge rushers in Texas A&M's Nic Scourton and Ole Miss's Princeley Umanmielen. That duo adds some much-needed beef to the defensive line, and both should feature prominently in the edge rusher rotation early on. On Day 3, Carolina bolstered their running backs group with a quality pass catcher in Georgia's Trevor Etienne, then grabbed Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans later on. Overall, I thought the Panthers did a good job in adding immediate contributors, and these picks should pay dividends on both sides of the ball.

Clearly, Carolina needed to get Bryce Young help at receiver, and Tetairoa McMillan possesses the size, ball skills and production to suggest he can be that. I'm eager to see if "T-Mac" emerges as the clear-cut WR1 expected of a top-10 selection, as I wasn't as high on him as many others in the media. However, I'm significantly higher on Nic Scourton than many draft analysts seem to be, and love the pro-readiness and value he offers as the 51st overall selection. Princely Umanmielen might play the same position, but he's an entirely different style of outside linebacker than Scourton, winning with speed and agility. Of Carolina's Day 3 selections, I'm most excited about their early picks of running back Trevor Etienne and safety Lathan Ransom, who possess not only juice but the toughness necessary to be longtime contributors.

Here's why: Bryce Young should be thrilled with this draft. The Panthers, who already had a strong offensive line and running game last season, added a potential No. 1 wide receiver in Tetairoa McMillan, and then added speed and depth to their running back room with Trevor Etienne in the fourth round. They also took some very nice swings at edge rusher in the second round with the additions of Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen. Grabbing tight end Mitchell Evans and wideout Jimmy Horn Jr. in the fifth and sixth rounds provided nice value in their pursuit of offensive pieces.

Most interesting pick: Nic Scourton, Edge, Texas A&M

Scourton is one of the most interesting players in the whole draft. When he was at Purdue, he looked like a first-round player. After transferring to Texas A&M, he ended up playing a style of football that didn't quite fit his body type and his production dropped. If he can get back to his 2023 play, this could be a major steal for the Panthers.

They might have overspent on WR Tetairoa McMillan at No. 8. And they might have struck gold on OLB Nic Scourton at No. 51. Fourth-round RB Trevor Etienne is a nice player, though it's worth wondering if GM Dan Morgan should have attacked other parts of the roster given the presence of recently extended RB Chuba Hubbard and newly signed Rico Dowdle in the backfield.

The Panthers' gamble to neglect the defense in the first round paid off, with the team selecting talented edge rushers Scourton and Umanmielen. But their prize from this draft class is the 6' 4", 213-pound McMillan, who will make life easier for Bryce Young because of his massive catch radius. McMillan got dinged a bit in the lead-up to the draft due to a few concerns with his work ethic, but he has the skill set to be the best wideout from this class when it's all said and done. It's tough to gauge where the Panthers are in their rebuild, but they're finally giving Young a fair shake to succeed.

I have hesitancy to crown the Panthers' selection of Tetairoa McMillan, considering so many top 10 receivers in recent memory have flamed out (hello Corey Davis). They also waited until Day Three to add any players to their secondary, which needs a lot of help. Nic Scourton and Princley Umanielen also didn't move me in terms of their significance.