B-
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers kept it disciplined and banked a B-.
by Khoston1999 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The Panthers did not so much draft Tyler Onyedim as overpay for him, 115 picks clear of his grade. It sets an uneasy tone for the weekend. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B-.
Moore falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped linebacker, which is a strange place to end up.
Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Good work on the whole, with linebacker the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 19 they get a matchup weapon at tight end. A clean fit for the roster.
A premium they did not need to pay, Zachariah Branch a notch or two before his time. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Brian Parker II well ahead of where he belonged. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A cornerback of that caliber at the 119th overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value said wait; Tyler Onyedim in the Round 5 slot says they were not listening. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They paid sticker price for Louis Moore in pick No. 159, and that is fine. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Anez Cooper at pick No. 200 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It patches a soft spot without any drama.