Revisiting the Carolina Panthers 2021 Draft Class

Revisiting the Carolina Panthers 2021 Draft Class

draft grades are pointless well not necessarily pointless but they are if they’re done immediately after that draft if you wait a couple of years and you watch the guys play on the field that’s a better way to assess what they’ve actually brought to the table so let’s do that today on today’s show looking back at the 2021 Carolina Panthers draft class and seeing just how good they actually did you are locked on Panthers your daily Carolina Panthers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday welcome into another edition of the lockon Panthers podcast the part of the lockon podcast Network I’m your host as always juli and Council talking Carolina Panthers with you every Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday your team every day that’s our motto here on the locked on podcast Network subscribe or follow the show for free on YouTu YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast and be sure to follow me Julian counil on Twitter Julian counil where on Fridays I answer your weekly Friday mailbag questions either at me or DM me over on Twitter Julian counsel to get your questions in for this week’s edition of the weekly Friday mailbag right here unlocked on Panthers today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply so you know every year after the draft you look at ESPN Pro Football Focus CBS Sports Yahoo Bleacher Report you name it and they put out draft grades that is an extremely useless exercise in my opinion we have no idea actually how well these guys are going to perform once they get into the league you can love Caleb Williams what he might do for the Bears you can love Xavier liate and what he could do here in Carolina but we don’t know how it’s actually going to work out for those individuals and their individual teams and stops along the way we do know in a couple years time three years in my opinion whether that was actually an a pick or a b or a c a d or even an F so on today’s show I want to look back at the Panthers draft class three years ago go pick by pick player by player give my grade of that individual player look at where he stands heading into the 2024 season and look at the class as a whole and compare it to the other classes a recent memory here in Carolina to see how it Stacks up and whether the Panthers are in the right spot moving forward to build with some of the guys that were drafted in 2021 so let’s revisit the Carolina Panter 2021 NFL draft class scfit by the way he was the general manager back then in 2021 he is no longer here in Carolina and we’ll go over on this show a big reason why he’s no longer here in Carolina although there were some solid picks that he made on that night where he traded four times during that draft came away with 11 players a massive draft hall for the Carolina Panthers and did something we hadn’t really seen a general manager do in the past here in Carolina never really saw Marty hernie do this on draft night or S Dave G him and do this in draft night where scotf was Wheeling dealing and finding a way to go into the draft only six picks and come out with 11 picks and he certainly should have been commended for doing that which he was and even to this day I commend it now do I commend the job that he did with the guys that he took we’ll get to that here on the show starting off with that first round pick the Panthers had a decision to make do they want to get a quarterback Justin Fields potentially do they want to get M Jones or were they going to go with the defensive player they decided with the entire defensive board at their disposal they decided to take JC horn the quarterback out of South Carolina and JC wi healthy as we all know is an excellent player and I hate that the rest of the league doesn’t know this because JC has missed 29 out of a possible 51 games in his first three years of his career the first two games he was outstanding against the Jets against the Saints then goes down in that third quarter on the road against Houston was out for the rest of the season comes back to next season plays well again misses some time because of RI rib injury then Friendly Fire Jeremy chin breaking his wrist he does not play any all-important de facto NFC souy title game against Tampa Bay then last year second quarter week one on the road against Atlanta pops his hamstring and that was the majority the season right they’re gone so we have not gotten to see JC but the Panthers they’ve seen enough JC horn and they look the rest of their cornerback room and they want to invest in him at least past this season for one more year in 2025 as theyve exercised a fifth year option and according to over the cap that is projected to be$ 122.4 million in 2025 now how they decided to not pick it up if JC would have stayed healthy played well at a pro bow level which I think he can play at if he actually plays a 17 game schedule maybe even 15 games seven 16 games I’ll take anything around there and he would be a pro bowler win healthy the Panthers would have had to pay him around1 1819 million if they had to do the whole franchise tag deal but they’re goingon to take a risk and I think it’s one worth taking because this is a very good player so I give JC horny B+ because he’s good hasn’t been available but the team has still invested in him it’s not like he’s a complete buz Patrick San has yet been a better player he’s been available and that’s been the big part of him being a better player JC has not been available has not been better than certain even when he’s been out on the field I still would give this a B plus going to look on the positive side of this the only negative really is the fact he has not played in enough games looking at their second round draft pick they took Terrace Marshall Jr 59th overall out of LSU and TMJ has not had the career that a lot of us were hoping looking at his career receptions yardage and touchdowns 64 career receptions 767 yards and you would take that for a single season but unfortunately that is three seasons combined so far in only one touchdown the best stretch of his career came back in the final 11 games of the 2022 season where he had 24 receptions 460 yards and a touchdown in that Bengals game of the Panthers got blown out but he became the number two wide receiver opposite of J of DJ Moore and that Panthers offense that went more as a ground and pound downhill rushing attack when Steve WLS took over as the inter head coach and had a lot of people seeing the potential in Terrace Marshall and thinking that this may be a guy for the future who can tag team with DJ unfortunately DJ morg gets traded at upcoming off season Terrace Marshall then gets replaced immediately by Frank Reich staffed as they drafted john Domingo also a second round pick pick 39 in that year’s draft and at times they forgot Terrace Marshall even existed how do I say that because back after he had a career-high nine receptions against Minnesota only for 56 yards but a career high nine ceptions the next week in a l against Detroit he did not play was active did not play Frank Reich was asked about and he said I I that’s on me I messed that up and right then and there at 0 and five after a player had a career day not a ton of yardage but reception wise you didn’t have that guy part of your game plan we should have known right then and there and I’m sure plenty of you were already calling for his head anyways that Frank Reich was not the man for the job here in Carolina terorist go on to be inactive for seven weeks weeks in 2023 in the second half of the Season before being active in week 18 and this was the final STW for me versus Tampa he lines up in an illegal formation penalty brings back a touchdown where Bryce Young’s able to get out of the pocket throw it to the sideline one of the best offensive plays we had seen all season long in a season devoid of good offensive plays was brought back because Terrace Marshall could not line up properly fundamental things which is why this is a d not going to give him an F but ad because we did see promise you can question whether wils would have came back if Terrace has a bigger role Frank Reich forgot about him but I see why you forgot about him the man can’t even line up properly that is inexcusable looking at their pick in the third round the first one the Panthers made back in 2021 Brady Christensen taking 70th overall out of BYU was a big reason why Zach Wilson had that major season against the really The Sisters of the Poor as BYU did not play a lot of the tack 12 opponents rip that they typically play because of the pandemic season Zach Wilson went over went on to be the number two overall pick in this draft and he is no longer in New York so Brady Christensen got Zack Wilson paid and he came to Carolina and he got some opportunities his rookie year played in 16 games started in six of them he played every position except for Center that year as the Panthers had a Litany of injuries in 2022 he started every game at left guard he was a part of a solid pairing with iky aanu there on the left side side also you had Bradley Boseman when he came in once had Aline went out for the season with the hip injury Taylor Molton was there Austin Corbett was there a solid offensive line but he was the lowest grade according to proall focus on that o line at that left guard spot which called into question whether the Panthers could potentially upgrade there in the future last year started at left guard against Atlanta tor’s bicep in that game was out for the rest of the season and now heading into 2024 he is the backup center and also probably the backup left guard so a player who can play really all five positions which is a positive doesn’t have a true home probably more of a tackle than he is an interior offensive lineman didn’t really get that opportunity here in Carolina never gonna get that opportunity it seems like in Carolina maybe elsewhere in the NFL someone will look for him but not a great situation for Brady to be in as he’s going to be a free agent after this season don’t imagine Carolina’s gonna want to bring him back where is his home on the offensive line another team can try to find it he has experience starting which is a positive for him but it’s not so certain whether he’s a center a guard or a tackle and that’s after three years so we’ll see how it pans out for him this year as he’s going to be a backup potentially could be a swing tackle Yash San’s been brought in to do that but still Brady Christensen has a role to play here in Carolina and that role is as a backup either the sixth or seventh offensive lineman here in Carolina heading into 224 and I gave that grade a C+ he started but it wasn’t the best starter for the Carolina Panthers he is versatile that is good but his role heading into the season is backup and he’s probably not going to be here after this year so those are the first three picks Panthers made in 2021 look at the last eight picks that they made here in just a moment on locked on Panthers when it comes to your financial future you think you’ve done it all you’ve saved you’ve researched you’ve invested all that you can now you need to take those Investments to the next level by using what every finan great uses Yahoo finance for more than 25 years Yahoo finance has been the brand behind every great investor whether you’re a season investor or looking for that extra guidance Yahoo finance gives you all the tools and data you need in one place they are the number one Finance destination producing a holistic look at the financial news cycle including breaking news original editorial perspectives analyst ratings independent research customizable charts and so much more securely link your brokerage accounts for a unified view of your wealth including 401 K and other Investments a comprehensive perspective is what sets apart Great investors and it’s how Yahoo finance ensures you have their insight to look at your wealth in its entirety with a community of over 90 million users each month their real strength is helping you on your way to financial success for comprehensive financial news and Analysis visit the brand behind every great investor yahoofinance.com the number one Financial destination yahoofinance.com that’s yahoofinance.com let’s look at at the other eight picks the Panthers selected in the 2021 draft as we’re revisiting the 2021 draft class and giving the grades to those draft picks as three years ago you saw the grades you probably got excited about the grades gred excited about everything that scottf did and rightfully so it’s a draft gives you hope but you don’t really know how it’s actually going to pan out until about three years down the road when you see these guys heading to the final year of the rookie deal and see what their future is going to be with your favorite team and that team is of course Carolina Panthers looking later on in third round pick 83 Tommy Trimble tight end out of Notre Dame so far Tommy has I feel like done everything that you could have reasonably expected out of him coming out of Notre Dame he’s played in 49 out of 51 games started in 23 of them he has 62 receptions 548 yards and seven touchdowns in his career he came in as a blocking tight end the Hope was that one day he could be more than just a blocking tight end that could be an actual threat in the passing game and up to this point I don’t think we’re quite there yet but go back to last year during OTA is a big reason why you shouldn’t take too much of what’s going on OTAs that seriously he talked about how this is the first time in my career that they’ve actually coached Titans how to run routes and be part of the offense and then we got to last year and while everything was jacked up the tight end group was no better than what we had seen under Joe Brady and Matt Rule and all the other play callers and coaches we had seen prior to Frank Wright coming here during Tommy trimble’s career so I still think Tommy is a good player as far as being a blocking tight end I think that he does give you some upside as a pass catcher as we saw in the latter half of last season but the Panthers they drafted chavon Sanders out a Texas for a reason because they looked at the rest of their tight end group realized these guys aren’t really what we need in the passing game as far as being a threat and being a net positive so let’s bring in somebody else either way I feel like Tommy Trimble has been a solid draft pick I think he’s somebody that should have a future here in Carolina it’s not guaranteed but I would like to see him return especially if he has another solid season this year and continues to grow as a pass catcher at that tight end position but a third round pick is a starter not a plus starter I’ll give this pick a b which I think is a fair grade in the fourth round to begin that day the Carolina Panthers took chuba hubard really it was Julie rule Matt ru’s WF who decided that that’s the player the Panthers should get because he ran all over Nebraska not Nebraska that’s where R is at now but he ran all over Baylor back when Matt roues the head coach when to when chuba hubard was there at Oklahoma State had two 2,000 yard rushing season that year and Julie Ru said we got to get that guy here and maybe one of the best picks that was made by Matt Rule and his wife during the draft that year he has 1980 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns through his first three years of his career last season had a career-high 902 rushing yards he had to step up in 2021 for Christian mcaffry when CMC went down with that hamstring injury and that same game JC horn broke his foot that Thursday night game on the road against Houston it was okay in that backup role or in that starting role in 2021 LA and in 2022 when CMC was traded he became a part of a solid pairing with Deontay foran where Foreman really was the lead back and chuba also had his moments and last year finally had the opportunity to be the guy after mil Sanders started with a groin injury and just really didn’t show what that coaching staff was hoping they were going to get out of him and chba became the guy down a stretch and for the majority of the Season as he rushed for career high 92 rushing yards heading to this year chuba is gonna be rb1 to start off I don’t think that they Trade It Up in the second round to get Jonathan Brooks for Jonathan Brooks to not eventually be the guy at some point this season so I think when fully healthy which may not be right out the gate it’s probably going to be sometime during the season as Jonathan Brooks has got to get used to cutting has to get used to just the mental side of things coming off of that injury and the speed of the game in the NFL after having a significant injury as last year in college he also has not played that many snaps as a running back which is a benefit but also could be in a way a negative heading into the league I think truba is still going to be the top guy starting out but eventually I do think that it will be Jonathan Brooks who takes over but I do think chuba hubard has an opportunity to put up similar numbers that he put up last year because Dave can has talked about how much that they want to run the ball this upcoming season and that chba should still have have a solid role as a 1A 1B kind of back in this Dave Canalis offense so looking at that grade looking at his grade as far as the pick I give it a B+ got a fourth round running back who’s a starter for you now and not going to be your long-term starter of course which is totally fine especially at the running back position but he’s been pretty good player for you struggled with returning the football and catching it but as far as just being a runner chuba hubard been a solid player I’ll give that a B+ they did better and later part of the third round and the beginning of the fourth round with those picks now it’s where it got ugly for skyfit Matt ran of course Julie R and Company in 2021 fifth round pick 158 Davon Nixon defensive tackle out of Iowa was the Big 10 Player of the Year during the pandemic 2020 season where the Big 10 only played in I believe it was six games that season so not a large sample size but still played well in what is a premier conference in college coming to Carolina he only played in seven games as a rookie before suffering a season ending knee injury then in 2022 did not make the initial roster but did come back as a practice squad player then was back on the active roster played in seven more games 15 career tackles as a Carolina Panther and do not believe he’s in the league right now the Hope was the Panthers were going to get in tier defensive lineman who could provide pressure up the middle and that is not what they got they were hoping to get maybe another Kanan short that is not how things panned out maybe that’s just fans and myself having unrealist unrealistic expectations in this situation maybe but I’m giving this a D minus didn’t help you at all was injured didn’t make the roster even win the staff and the coach and the general manager who drafted him were still here that’s never a good sign Davon Nixon D N D minus excuse me for me later on in the fifth round eight picks later at pick 166 Panthers took Keith Taylor Corner out of Washington and Keith he did play more than Nixon did and more than some of the guys we’ve been mentioned so far on the show and in his class he played in all 34 games that he spent in those two seasons in Carolina starting five times including some starts late in the season like that game against the Bucks where he got torched alongside his buddy CJ Henderson as JC horn was out for that game that was not ideal he was a liability in the back in 129 9.0 passer rating allowed back in 2022 he was waved by Frank Reich Staff last year and you understand why he just wasn’t up to Snuff and it is a positive that they were able to get two full seasons out of him as a backup and that he did play decent amount of snaps just when he did play he wasn’t very good he’s no longer here and also I don’t believe is on an NFL roster gonna have to give this one unfortunately another D minus Deontay Brown six round 193 offensive guard out of Alabama he only played in three games as a Carolina Panther was waved twice in 2022 and in 2023 had an injury in 2021 as a rookie that kept him out for a period of time but still wasn’t getting any burn primarily spent time as a practice squad guy each time he was waved he was later time back to the practice squad but did not play in a game in 22 or in 23 fans of the Panthers love to complain about a player the Panthers took later on in the sixth round instead of Trey Smith but the player they should really be looking at in question why on Earth did Scott bitter and Matt Rule and Julie Rule and Company take Deontay Brown over Trey Smith who’s gone on to be an excellent offensive guard for the Kansas City Chiefs now Trey Smith did have blood clot issues that kept him out of of a lot of games at Tennessee and that was a serious concern heading into the NFL draft which is the only reason why he fell all the way back to the sixth round and I’m sure many of you have never heard that before and you just decided to just yell on Twitter instead of actually doing research to why this player who was a f star coming out of college out of high school and played well Tennessee fell so far back in the draft well that’s why the True Crime if you even want to call it a crime because there were some legitimate health concerns there the True Crime there in the sixth round is the Panthers took Deontay Brown not Trey Smith there at pick 193 so yeah I’m giving that one an F let me take one more pause and come back and talk about the final three players of that draft class and give an overall grade on the class and looking at the guys who are still here and wondering what they could do for the Panthers in 2024 here in just moment on lock on Panthers with killer last minute deals Allin prices views from your seat in their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying NFL ticket save up to 60% off buying last minute for sport concerts comedy theater Etc get a panoramic view from your seat in the app before you buy and we finally have a schedule I know a lot of you are planning to make some of those road trips tickets are on sale go over to game time and get your tickets right now or if you want to wait for those great deals you can do it later on this fall I won’t blame you just go ahead and use game time take the GU work out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code Cod locked on NFL that’s l o c k e d o n NFL for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed with eight picks down the Panthers still had three more picks left in the 2021 NFL draft in the sixth round pick 204 Carolina took Shai Smith wide receiver out of South Carolina shy went on to play 23 games in Carolina 22 receptions in that 2022 season where he won the wide receiver three job out of Camp had 209 296 yards receiving that year two touchdowns and really struggled with drops and we saw that in that Giants game on the road where the Carolina Panthers started off 0 and2 and all the calls for Matt rues head were coming after that game players got execute Shai Smith did not execute looked good in the preseason had that connection with Baker Mayfield and that did not carry over to the regular season last year was weigh by Frank reich’s coaching staff not a huge surprise that they’re going to move on from a second round pick in terce Marshall who they didn’t cut they kept him but they going to bring in his immediate replacement not a surprise that Shai Smith was going to be one of the odd men out here in Carolina and that was the case also had a weird legal issue off the field that didn’t really make a lot of sense so there was that as well C minus I don’t give a c minus because six round pick won a job at a camp kind of contributed but didn’t really probably really a d but I’ll be I’ll be nice here I’ll give him C minus oh boy this is the one that I still to this day I understand kind of why you’d want to try it but I’ve just never heard of this being a position that people are willing to use a Draft pick on sixth round pick 222 Thomas Fletcher Long Snapper Alabama um National Long Snapper of the Year during that National Championship season in 2020 big old asterisk really good players that came out of that Bama team but come on pandemic 2020 asteris national championship for the Crimson Tide under Nick Sabin Thomas Fletcher was a big part of it best at his position and Matt rule looked at JJ Janson like he looked at Cam Newton like he looked at a lot of the older players that he inherited in Carolina and said buddy your time is up and what did he do he called up Thomas Fletcher told him hey bud you’re coming to Carolina and Thomas Fletcher’s like no I don’t know about that yet man I’m still talking some team’s like no no no no no we’re drafting you and Thomas Fletcher is like bro no way you want to draft me a Long Snapper that’s insane what kind of can’t say it what kind of person would do that well the kind of person who would do that is Matt Ru and Scott fiter who are no longer here in Carolina this this is an F minus this is not the player to be upset about when it comes to Trey Smith deontre Brown is the one but still egregious that they decided that let’s use a draft pick I’ll be it in a second six round late sixth round on a Long Snapper who then was terrible at it and JJ Janson is still here again JJ Jansen forever finally in the seven round pick 232 Phil Hoskins defensive tackle out of Kentucky he ended up only playing eight games for Carolina was waved and later signed by the Chiefs went on to get a Super Bowl ring congratulations to him played a little bit last year in Arizona it’s going to sound weird but the fact that he’s been able to leave Carolina be on another roster even play in some other games for another team like Arizona because he didn’t play for Kanas he was just there to got the ring but he played last year for a time uh in Arizona I’m gonna give this like a c minus again just being nice but a seven round pick who’s been able to stick around so far in the league where some of these other guys who are drafted higher didn’t even do as much and are no longer around why not I’ll give it that so looking at the class as a whole it was pretty bad there are some guys at the top of it who are still around who have an opportunity like JC and like Ian and even chuba hubard as well because he was he was not Ian but I’m sorry Tommy Trimble like JC horn Tommy Trimble and chuba hubard all three of those guys should be significant contributors on offense this year whether their numbers are big or not they’re going to play a significant amount of snaps well guess JC do play offense but they’re going to be guys who are significant contributors on the team this year in Carolina which is a good thing that’s only three out of the 11 draft picks and looking even down the road JC’s under contract but will those other guys be under contract JC is the only one slated to be here after this season as he has a fifth year option but beyond that we’re not quite sure what the future holds I he plays well this time next season we can be talked about him already having an extension Tommy Trimble looking at him him and chuba he’s the one I would think that would have a really good chance to come back because he plays tight end he’s a good blocker I do think that he’s a good player and should have a future in Carolina if he wants one and if they want him to have one he has to play well under this new coaching staff of course but I feel like he’s a player that’s worth keeping around at the right price after that you know how I feel about running backs chuba could run for 3,000 yards they say let’s get rid of him now if he runs for 3,000 yards and yeah you probably need to consider keeping chuba hubard around they brought in Jonathan Brooks for a reason they talk about versatility for a reason we’ve seen chuba hubber the hands have gotten better still he’s not the kind of back that Dave canis appears to be looking for and why do I feel that way they drafted john the Brooks and talked about versatility so that’s probably two out of the 11 players from this draft class that will be getting a second contract one for sure and that might even be a second contract like that’s the 50 option that’s still his rookie deal so we it may be one for 11 still and that one could be Tommy Tri let’s just say it’s two for 11 that’s pretty putrid numbers for Carolina to get two players and the bringing 11 players only two of them be able to stick around pass your rookie deals now one of them it’s not quite sure certain that’s G to be the case just yet but he’s at least been given the fifth year option which is a step in the right direction and in Tommy Trimble I feel like he’s going to get there so two out 11 but really right now zero out 11 have been given that deal and it is going into their final year they didn’t have to make any sort of extension offers to these guys just yet outside the fifth year option but still I feel like you understand my point we’re looking at two out of 11 players from that draft class getting a second contract in Carolina comparing that to the classes before them in 2020 Derek Brown is the only player who got a second contract and is still here in Carolina there were seven players picked all on defense but one out of seven Brian Burns would have gotten a second contract potenti but that did not work out in Carolina so zero out of the seven players that were selected in 2019 are still on the roster 2018 was the last time the Panthers had a class where multiple players signed a second contract here in Carolina DJ Moore who was later than traded to the Bears Dante Jackson who was later than traded to the Steelers Ian Thomas who’s still here and in Maris hands who’s now not here in Carolina and I don’t believe is on any roster right now the lone guy to stick around from that 2018 class is Ian Thomas that kind of tells you everything you need to know about where the Carolina Panthers are are right now coming up two and5 season they must draft better if this franchise want wants to have any sustained success but wants to head into the right direction even temporarily they have to draft better two out of 11 players getting second contracts one out of seven zero out of seven that’s not good enough and then the guys that you do bring back you trade them away now DJ that one didn’t like it at all Dante makes sense Ian being around okay that’s a good thing Maris maybe he’s still around had he not had the back injury last year but still they got to be better Drafting and that’s part of the reason why I wanted to do this exercise to go through that draft class and they really look back at it and to see where these guys are now and where the team is currently and potentially headed like oh overall My Grave for the 2021 draft class is a D+ the only reason it’s a plus is because JC horn exists and I think when healthy as we’ve all seen he’s someone the Panthers will keep around and I also think Tommy Trimble has a good chance to stay around and maybe because this coaching staff in front office value running backs chba hubard may get to stick around as well so potentially three out of 11 but more likely two out of 11 of those guys drafted will stick around that ain’t good enough that’s not going to cut it and of course can look at all the other teams in the league and try to compare and contrast but historically at least of recent memory the Panthers have not done a good job of drafting their players then signing to a second contract because they earn that second contract that’s alarming and must be better for the get better for them to get to where we want them to get and that is a top of the N NFC South and consistently being a playoff contender in backto toback double digit win seasons is that too much to ask so there here’s the 2021 draft class and if you didn’t already know now you know why David Tepper and everyone there made that decision back in January to say scotf here’s your pink slip please get out all right that’s going to wrap up this edition of the lockon Panthers podcast part of the lockon podcast Network hosted by yours Julie Julie and Council again y’all subcribe or follow the show for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast and be sure to follow me on Twitter Julian counil where on Fridays at the offseason I answer your weekly Friday mail by questions or either at me or DM me to get those questions into me right now but in the meantime be safe be happy be whole as always keep pounding and I’ll talk to youall on Friday

Following every NFL Draft, multiple outlets release draft grades for each individual teams. While those draft grades are welcomed by fans wanting to know how experts perceive their team’s draft haul, those experts are often found to be anything but in a few years time as reality plays out on the field. So, with three years having passed since the Carolina Panthers 2021 draft class came to Charlotte, how is the class perceived today?

Julian Council goes pick-by-pick to assess the impact each player made in Carolina and, for the ones who are still Panthers, Julian looks at what their role is expected to be in 2024 and beyond.

Julian also gives a final grade for the class and compares the class to previous Panthers draft hauls of recent memory.

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