{"id":699037,"date":"2026-01-23T14:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699037\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:09:16","slug":"insiders-mock-draft-implores-carolina-panthers-to-add-bell-cow-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699037\/","title":{"rendered":"Insider’s Mock Draft Implores Carolina Panthers to Add \u2018Bell-Cow\u2019 Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers<\/a> are coming off their first playoff campaign since 2017, winning the NFC South<\/a> with an 8-9 mark. Quarterback Bryce Young showed a penchant for comebacks, while the defense rebounded from a forgettable 2024.<\/p>\n

With the conclusion of the 2025 college football season, Daniel Flick<\/a> of SI.com put together his 2026 mock NFL draft. An area that continues to be one of need for Carolina is the pass rush. Flick has general manager Dan Morgan opting for a prospect from a familiar venue in Cashius Howell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Panthers tapped into Texas A&M\u2019s well of pass rushers last season,” explained Flick, “using a second-round pick on Nic Scourton, who had five sacks in an encouraging rookie campaign. They should consider returning to College Station. Carolina needs to add a bell-cow pass rusher and few more consistently disruptive players, more dominant than Cashius Howell.”<\/p>\n

“Wiry and undersized at 6′ 2″ and 249 pounds<\/a>,” added Flick, “Howell may never be an above-average run defender, but he\u2019s a ready-made pass rusher. He\u2019s explosive off the snap, wins around the perimeter and on inside counters, and he has enough power to condense pockets.”<\/p>\n

\"Nic<\/p>\n

Nov 16, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Nic Scourton (11) reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

All told, those aforementioned five sacks actually had Scourton tying for the team lead in sacks with Derrick Brown. One year earlier, Jadeveon Clowney and A\u2019Shawn Robinson led the way with 5.5 quarterback traps. The Panthers have not had a player finish with double-digit sacks since Brian Burns (12.5) in 2022.<\/p>\n

Dating back to 2023<\/a>, no team in the league has compiled fewer sacks (89) than the Panthers, who have finished with 27, 32, and 30 QB traps, respectively, the past three seasons. Perhaps things may have been different had Jones been able to stay healthy. In any case, after spending second- (Scourton) and third-round selections (Princely Umanmielen)<\/a> on pass-rushing help in last year\u2019s draft, it certainly couldn\u2019t hurt to look in this direction with the 19th overall pick<\/a> on April 23.<\/p>\n

– Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI –<\/p>\n

NFL exec issues warning over Bryce Young contract, cites Tua Tagovailoa<\/a><\/p>\n

Failed Panthers coach believes Bryce Young has earned a new contract<\/a><\/p>\n

The Panthers have some major question marks on defense in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

NFL insider suggests Broncos add Cam Newton after Bo Nix injury<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carolina Panthers are coming off their first playoff campaign since 2017, winning the NFC South with an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":{"0":"post-699037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-carolina","9":"tag-carolina-panthers","10":"tag-carolinapanthers","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115944814845521758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}