Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We\u2019re chugging along as we\u2019re about 3-4 weeks away from free agency, so fans are chomping at the bit with mock drafts and projections of where rookies might fit. I brought in a member of the staff to help out with one of the questions this week, let me know if you\u2019d like to see more of that!<\/p>\n
Micash: Drop your favorite 7 round Panthers mock below please!<\/p>\n
I realized upon writing that you may have been calling for mock drafts in the comments, but I tapped Daniel Belton for the first ever special guest to answer a question for this week! I don\u2019t really do mock drafts this early in the off-season, but I know plenty of you friends exist, including the artist formerly known as DBelt. Here\u2019s his picks and some quick reasoning behind them.<\/p>\n
1-19: OT Caleb Lomu (Utah) – help on the line with older Taylor Moton and Ikem Eckwonu injury<\/p>\n
2-51: LB Anthony Hill Jr. (Texas) – need better run defenders at LB to pair with Trevin Wallace<\/p>\n
3-83: S Genesis Smith (Arizona) – center field type of safety to replace Nick Scott (sorry)<\/p>\n
4-119: WR Bryce Lance (ND State) – Trey\u2019s brother, tall and fast, vertical threat that the offense doesn\u2019t have<\/p>\n
5-157: EDGE Max Llewellyn (Iowa) – good size, what Ejiro Evero looks for in edge defenders<\/p>\n
5-161: TE Dallen Bentley (Utah) – sleeper tight end, good blocker and reliable receiver<\/p>\n
6-198: QB Drew Allar (Penn State) – developmental\/backup QB, excellent tools, could be great with time, injured last year.<\/p>\n
Overall, I like his Draft. Share your thoughts below!<\/p>\n
brake23: You\u2019re the GM and we\u2019re at the #19 pick with the options below, which one do you pick?<\/p>\n
Prospects of interest available:<\/p>\n
F) Trade back with Broncos for Picks 30 & 62<\/p>\n
Obviously, as we saw up above, depending on who you ask Anthony Hill Jr is available in the 2nd round. I really don\u2019t like trading into the late part of the first round with the needs the Panthers have. So among my choices, I\u2019d be inclined to take OT Spencer Fano or EDGE Keldric Faulk, though you could talk me into Peter Woods being the pick. Let\u2019s go with Faulk for this exercise, but a draft board falling like this gives the Panthers a lot of options. Faulk would be the highest impact player right away, but I think the value pick is Fano.<\/p>\n
@WTMealey: I know we haven\u2019t done FA or the draft yet. I\u2019m trying to filter out homerism and have a realistic view of how much better we could be next year. We obviously exceded most outsiders expectations. Is that because they underestimated us or because we outperformed our actual ability?<\/p>\n
__% chance we regress and have a worst season than 2025<\/p>\n
__% chance we hold serve and have a very similar season to 2025<\/p>\n
__% chance we continue to level up and have a better season than 2025<\/p>\n
I give it a 40% chance of regression. The Panthers lost a few games they should have won and won a few games they should have lost. They have a harder (on paper, as of this writing) schedule going into 2026, so there\u2019s a decent chance it goes sideways.30%. This team has a lot of needs to fill, and even if they continue on their upward trajectory, its highly possible the moves they make only keep them in the \u201cplayoff contenders\u201d conversation due to the NFC South. I\u2019d call 9 wins a \u201csimilar season).30%. I think many fans expect them to be better, and barring significant injury problems, its likely. So I\u2019d say they have an equal chance of being better to being simply in the same area as 2025. To me, leveling up and being better is 10+ wins.<\/p>\n
leazer88: Why does everyone have us picking a WR or DT in the 1st round? We have a lot of $ tied up on the DL, we need edge rushing, inside linebackers, and OL depth. We don\u2019t need to be picking Sadiq with the first pick when we could sign a TE in FA or make a trade for Cole Kmet. Edge rushing and linebackers should be the MAIN focus in free agency AND the draft. We can sign a reliable veteran as a WR3.. like JuJu. Someone that doesn\u2019t threaten targets for Tmac or Coker and can catch and create YAC. The Panthers don\u2019t have that kind of guy.<\/p>\n