I know, I know, the Panthers' struggles have been one of the biggest punching bags of the 2024 NFL season, with fans joking that they would be picking first once more before the season even began. They struggled early on, benched their young quarterback, Bryce Young, one year after being drafted first overall, and then went back to him after his veteran backup was in a car accident.
Sure, the Panthers have played better as of late, but that might just be because the pressure is off, what with their playoff hopes being dashed weeks ago. For a team like the Panthers, in their first year with a rookie head coach and an unstable situation under center, this win mattered more than it would for most three-win teams, but unfortunately for the hardcore draft heads, it does have some implications come April, with Carolina now sitting in seventh place with a .500 SOS according to USA Today.
Could the Panthers lose out and finish the season with a 4-13 record? Sure, they have a tough schedule down the stretch, with the top-2 teams in the NFC South, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Atlanta Falcons needing to win out to decide which team gets the pennant and which team has a wild card berth. But with six other teams having three wins or fewer heading into Week 16, the Panthers really could end up picking seventh when they looked like locks for a top-5 selection heading into the weekend.
Still, with the season rapidly coming to an end and fans in Carolina already looking ahead to the draft, why not take a look at some of the options the Panthers should consider at the top of the 2025 NFL draft? With Bowl Game season already underway, what better time of the year to do some early scouting than right now?
1. Travis Hunter
When it comes to the 2025 NFL draft, it's not so much which player fits the Panthers' schemes the best so much as the raw, unbridled pursuit of talent, as the team simply doesn't have enough good players across the board at positions of need to be picky.
Could they use a flashy WR1 with a million-dollar personality? Sure. How about a new lockdown cornerback with insane athleticism? Yup, that would be great, too.
Hmm... a WR1 or a CB1? Why not both?
If you remove the position tags or the value typically associated with them, Travis Hunter would almost certainly go number one overall based on his athletic gifts, incredible work ethic, and general football excellence.
A former five-star recruit who decided to begin his CFB career at Jackson State before following his head coach, Deion Sanders, to the University of Colorado, Hunter didn't just start at two positons for the Buffs; he thrived at them, catching 92 balls for 1,152 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns while also playing full time at perimeter cornerback, recording 32 tackles, 11 passes defensed, and four interceptions on the way to a Chuck Bednarik Award win.
Hunter played more snaps than any other player in the college football regular season and in the end, he was rewarded for his efforts with the spot's ultimate prize, the Heisman Trophy.
Now turning his attention to the draft process, Hunter has already said he plans to work out as a cornerback, with a 40 time expected to fall in Deion Sanders territory, 4.25-4.30, but for a team like the Panthers who need 1. talent and 2. star power, having the two-way dynamo who can start full-time on the outside and check in for gadget plays on the offensive side of the ball could create some much-needed excitement within the fanbase, selling jerseys, advertising spots, and maybe even a few local ads with companies likeBojangles along the way.
Could the Panthers target more of a sure thing, an elite player with a defined role, instead of someone with a bit higher level of variance? Sure, there are plenty of players who will almost certainly enter the draft at one position and play it at a Pro Bowl level for their entire NFL career, but how often does a team get a chance to have two Heisman winners in the same offense, especially ones on rookie-scale contract? Considering how well the last Heisman winner the Panthers drafted turned out, if Hunter is on the board when Carolina picks - or, knowing the franchise, if they fall in love and trade up - picking Hunter would generate the sort of positive headlines and congratulatory comments owner David Tepper has been after for years now.
2. Will Campbell or Kelvin Banks Jr.
If the Panthers decide that their biggest issue isn't star power or playmakers on the outside - both of which are boxes Hunter checks off - but instead making sure that Young is set up for success long-term with an elite offensive line on-par with what Dave Canales had in Tampa Bay, GM Dan Morgan may look to secure his Tristan Wirfs should the team fall out of range of the truly elite prospects.
Fortunately, the 2025 NFL draft has not one but two top-tier offensive tackles who fit that bill, with at least one of them borderline guaranteed to still be on the board when the Panthers pick, be it at sixth, seventh, or a pick or two later.
In one corner, there's Will Campbell, the LSU tackle who started for the ream right out of the gates as a rookie and now leaves his home state with an All-American award, a Jacobs Blocking Trophy, and three All-SEC team spots, including spots on the first team in each of the last two spots. Campbell has prototypical size at 6-foot-6, 323 pounds, three years of starting experience with an elite program, and has only allowed three sacks, 12 QB hits, and 30 hurries over 2,548 collegiate snaps, according to PFF.
And in the other? That spot belongs to Kelvin Banks Jr., who may have actually snagged the top spot away from Campbell with his strong play in 2024.
Similarly slated to start for his team as a rookie, Banks won award after award for his strong play for the Longhorns, including the Lombardi Award, the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, and the Outland Trophy for best interior lineman in college football. Over the past two seasons, Banks has played 1,783 snaps and counting, and despite his incredible workload against premier foes, Banks only allowed two sacks, two QB hits, and 16 hurries since the start of the 2023 season, according to PFF.
While Banks Jr. is a tad undersized for the position at just 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, leading some to wonder if left tackle is his best position at the NFL level, his play on the field looks as good as any other tackle in the nation, and should allow him to smoothly transition to the position right away as a Day 1 starter in Carolina or elsewhere.
With Ikem Ekwonu set to enter the final year of his rookie contract save an as-of-yet undecided fifth-year option and Taylor Moton about to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the Panthers could find a spot for either player in 2025 before sliding them into a full-time starting role in 2026, following in the footsteps of the New York Jets' drafting of Olumuyiwa Fashanu in 2024. If that's the plan, Banks Jr. probably has the advantage on Carolina's board.