Panthers make astonishing choice to pass on Derrick Brown in 2020 PFF redraft

The Panthers did not pick Derrick Brown in the redraft despite him being available. He slid to 23rd, which is a bit of an alarming fall given that Jerry Jeudy, Chase Young, and a couple of other mindblowing names went ahead of him.

For Carolina, Tristan Wirfs was the pick, this time addressing tackle two years before they would end up selecting Ikem Ekwonu in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

PFF's analysis said, "2020 was Russell Okung's final season in Carolina, so the Panthers find their left tackle of the future here in Wirfs. He’s been the second-most-valuable tackle in the league since being drafted, trailing only Trent Williams in PFF WAR. Wirfs has also bee n one of the 10 highest-graded tackles in every season of his career, despite moving to left tackle from right tackle in 2024."

Here are some names Carolina passed on:

• CeeDee Lamb
• Antoine Winfield Jr.
• Tee Higgins
• Brandon Aiyuk
• Jonathan Taylor
• AJ Terrell

This would also change things in 2022, because they'd already have a strong tackle duo in Wirfs and Taylor Moton. They could've selected:

• Drake London
• Garrett Wilson
• Chris Olave
• Kyle Hamilton
• Tyler Linderbaum

That would've resulted in a very different Panthers team today, and it's difficult to say whether or not they'd be better in that situation, but it's likely since Wirfs is a significant upgrade on Ekwonu. They do, however, lose out on their best defensive player.