B
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers robbed the room for Kilgore. Final grade: B.
by bleach51 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 6 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Jalon Kilgore got past him. The Panthers do not have to explain a thing at pick No. 119.
The Elarms-Orr pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. A small leak at the table, if not a fatal one.
Stockpiling next year's capital is patient, if unglamorous, asset work.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
They read the board right and Kenyon Sadiq was the payoff at slot 29. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A tidy bit of business in pick No. 51, where Emmanuel Pregnon graded well above the range. The roster fit checks out.
A quiet steal in the Round 3 slot: Malachi Fields for less than the market said. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They barely believed it either: Jalon Kilgore still on the board at No. 119. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A clean, defensible pick in the 158th overall pick with a little surplus value in Zxavian Harris. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kaleb Elarms-Orr in Round 5, Pick 19, miles early. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.