Panthers rookie takes inspiration from 2 very different legendary NFL defenders

The 2025 NFL draft is when Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan had his chair-forward moment, setting himself apart from the last several GMs the franchise has employed by aggressively going after high-end talent at premium positions.

Morgan's first three picks were particularly impressive, beginning with the surprise selection of the draft's consensus WR1 prospect, Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan at No. 8, continuing with the trade up in the second round for highly-touted Texas A&M edge rusher Nic Scourton, and culminating with another trade up in the third round for another promising edge in Princely Umanmielen from Ole Miss.

While the trade up to get him wasn't ideal from a draft value perspective, Umanmielen is one of the draft's most intriguing edge defenders in a class that has a ton of talent at the position. If his unique blend of length, speed and explosion doesn't grab your eye, then his favorite all-time players should.

Speaking with team reporter Kassidy Hill at this past weekend's rookie minicamp, Umanmielen mentioned two defensive GOATs as his inspiration: Ray Lewis and Tyrann Mathieu.

"I just loved the way Ray Lewis played football... he was so relentless, and then Tyrann Mathieu just always seemed like he was making plays."

It's an interesting split given how different Lewis and Mathieu's respective games were - and the fact that they play different positions than Umanmielen. Ideally, he will have inherited some of Mathieu's coverage ability and ball skills and Lewis' impeccable chops as a tackler in addition to the pass rushing prowess we know he brings to the Panthers.

As for his college production, Umanmielen spent four years at Florida, but he didn't have his big breakout season until he transferred to Ole Miss for his senior season in 2024. He posted career highs with 10.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss.

For his efforts, Umanmielen earned an elite 91.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus for the season, which was good enough to rank him fourth in the nation at his position.

We feel Umanmielen was an underrated excellent pick by Carolina and he could turn out to be their best value selection.