Analysts are dead wrong about this Carolina Panthers draft pick

The Carolina Panthers surprised some people when they decided to select Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft, as many expected the Panthers to go with a defensive player.

Georgia edge rusher Jalon Walker had become the popular choice for Carolina in many mock drafts, and given that the Panthers totaled just 32 sacks in 2024, the match made sense.

However, many analysts seemed to be neglecting the fact that quarterback Bryce Young was also in dire need of more targets. The trio of Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker has potential to be good, but Thielen is aging, and Legette's rookie campaign was largely uninspiring.

Carolina could not risk passing on a supreme talent like McMillan for the hope that Legette would potentially come into his own next season.

Not only that, but Walker himself is a very raw prospect who seems to be a boom-or-bust type of player. The Panthers could not afford to miss on this first-round draft pick, and McMillan—who dominated over his final two years at Arizona—was absolutely a safe choice.

Yet, Carolina is still being criticized by some for rolling with McMillan and not addressing the defense, even though the Panthers nabbed a pair of pass rushers in Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen on Day 2 of the draft.

Obviously, the fact that Carolina had the worst defense in NFL history last season is weighing on the minds of many, but that doesn't mean that you force a draft pick, and it also doesn't mean that you abandon other clear areas of need—like the wide receiver position.

The Panthers did the right thing here. They took arguably the most dominant receiver in this draft class and then doubled down on edge rushers in the second and third rounds. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Dan Morgan's strategy here.

Now, Young has a 6-foot-5 behemoth to target in what is an incredibly pivotal third professional season, and Carolina was still able to add a couple of key pieces to its front seven to boot.

The Panthers had a tremendous draft.