Joe Person of the Athletic reports that with Carolina surprisingly trading up to No. 1 overall on Friday, “[the] Panthers now control the draft.”
A source tells Person that Panthers GM Scott Fitterer and HC Frank Reich have convictions about a “couple of quarterbacks at the top.”
With this in mind, a source tells Person that the Panthers could potential trade down from No. 1 overall “if they end up liking more than one [quarterback].”
Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis have all garnered a lot of buzz to go earlier in round one.
Many seem to think Young and Stroud are the likely favorites to be selected with the No. 1 pick, but Richardson should not be discounted, as some evaluators believe he possesses the highest upside of any quarterback in this year’s class.
It sounds as if the Panthers are open for business at No. 1 overall in case a team feels compelled to move up and they can still get a quarterback prospect they believe in a pick or so later.
It would be risky and we haven’t seen a team trade up to No. 1 before only to then turn around and trade the pick, but it’s certainly something to watch over the next month and a half.
We’ll have more regarding the Panthers and the No. 1 pick as the news is available.
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