![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2025\/04\/USATSI_24304071-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Xavier Legette<\/a>\u00a0has not developed as hoped at the NFL level, but\u00a0Tetairoa McMillan<\/a>\u00a0certainly thrived during his debut season. The latter took home Offensive Rookie of the Year honors for his level of play in 2025, and he will be a core member of Carolina\u2019s passing game for the foreseeable future. A third consecutive Day 1 investment at the WR position is nevertheless receiving consideration.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re gonna take the best player,\u201d\u00a0Morgan said (via Joe Person of The Athletic<\/a>).\u00a0\u201cSo if the best player we feel is [a receiver] at 19, I wouldn\u2019t hesitate to draft another wideout. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a rule that says you can\u2019t draft a wide receiver three years in a row. So, I\u2019m not gonna box us in and say we\u2019re not gonna draft one.\u201d<\/p>\n The likes of\u00a0Carnell Tate<\/a>, Makai Lemon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jordyn Tyson<\/a>\u00a0are likely to be off the board when Carolina is set to select. There will still be plenty of first-round options to consider, though.\u00a0Denzel Boston<\/a>, Omar Cooper Jr.<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0KC Concepcion<\/a>\u00a0are among the prospects who have visited Carolina during the pre-draft process. Some or each could be available for Morgan and Co. to pick. Boston\u2019s size and skillset overlaps with McMillan\u2019s, but Cooper and Concepcion represent intriguing complementary receivers to pair with him.<\/p>\n NFL Network\u2019s Cameron Wolfe notes (video link<\/a>) the Panthers are specifically targeting speed with their next rookie wideout. That comes as no surprise, given McMillan\u2019s presence and Legette\u2019s inability to establish himself as a regular on offense. Former undrafted free agent\u00a0Jalen Coker<\/a>\u00a0is set to remain a key figure in 2026, but there is room to add another notable pass-catching presence as the Panthers look to build off their playoff appearance this past season.<\/p>\n That could of course include a receiver selection after Day 1 of the draft, and Wolfe names tight end\u00a0Kenyon Sadiq<\/a>\u00a0as an option the Panthers will likely consider as well. The draft\u2019s consensus TE1 winds up going to Carolina in Ely Allen\u2019s PFR mock draft<\/a>. Other roster spots could receive attention in the first round, but Morgan\u2019s comments point to a willingness to continue investing heavily at the skill positions even after doing so in each of the past two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dan Morgan\u00a0has been in place as the Panthers\u2019 general manager since 2024. During each of his first two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[4955,235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":{"0":"post-869665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-carolinapanthers","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116429796200359977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869665","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=869665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}