Welcome to draft week, Carolina Panthers fans!
Believe it or not, we’re now just a few days away from finding out who the team’s newest first-round pick will be. But before we get there, let’s take a little inventory on the latest mock drafts from around the web.
Here are some of the freshest projections for the Panthers and this year’s eighth overall pick . . .
Draft Wire
Pick: Mykel Willams, EDGE, Georgia
Author: Natalie Miller
Take: The Panthers desperately need to stack some talent along their defense and they do just that with the unlimited potential of Mykel Williams. It may be a bit of a surprise that he is the first Georgia player off the board, but with his ability to lock down the run game and develop into a dominant pass rusher, Carolina hits a slam dunk to their revamped defense.
NFL.com
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Chad Reuter
Take: Walker steps into the Panthers’ scheme as a pass rusher, a role in which he showed great promise at Georgia. His quick, strong hands help him win after the snap, and his quickness to the ball make him a menace when teams try running plays to his side of the field.
ESPN
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Mel Kiper Jr./Field Yates
Take: Carolina had big-time defensive issues last season. Walker can roam the second level with his sideline-to-sideline speed or fly off the edge to get home on the quarterback. The Panthers have to get some difference-makers on that side of the ball.
The Athletic
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Dane Brugler
Take: A hybrid player, Walker is at his best as a joker edge who can be flexed around the front seven and give a blocking scheme fits. There is certainly risk involved with his projection, but it isn’t hard to see why so many teams have Walker — who discovered his love for football about a half-hour north of Charlotte, N.C. — ranked so highly.
CBS Sports
Pick: Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
Author: Ryan Wilson
Take: The former UVA transfer played at Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Virginia, the same school that produced Lawrence Taylor. Green, who weighed 251 pounds at the Senior Bowl, is incredibly explosive off the snap, plays with surprising power and consistently uses his hands well to get off blocks. He had the 1-on-1 rep of the week down in Mobile and his tape backs it up.
The Ringer
Pick: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Author: Danny Heifetz
Take: You’d think that after the Panthers gave up the most points in a season in NFL history last year, they would take a defender in the first round. Yet the siren song of another receiver for Bryce Young may be too strong, especially since so many impactful defenders and fewer than usual high-upside receivers will likely be available on Day 2.
Underdog Network
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Hayden Winks
Take: Albert Breer believes Walker’s range is from 4th to 8th overall. Walker isn’t a fit for everyone because he is so small, but the Panthers addressed their interior DL in free agency and can use a chess piece menace. He also has off-ball history, which happens to be the position of GM Dan Morgan. It’s time for Carolina to find a potential sack artist off the edge. Walker is an inexperienced shrunken Micah Parsons in terms of style and usage.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers mock draft roundup 10.0: Tracking the latest 2025 projections
Welcome to draft week, Carolina Panthers fans!
Believe it or not, we’re now just a few days away from finding out who the team’s newest first-round pick will be. But before we get there, let’s take a little inventory on the latest mock drafts from around the web.
Here are some of the freshest projections for the Panthers and this year’s eighth overall pick . . .
Draft Wire
Pick: Mykel Willams, EDGE, Georgia
Author: Natalie Miller
Take: The Panthers desperately need to stack some talent along their defense and they do just that with the unlimited potential of Mykel Williams. It may be a bit of a surprise that he is the first Georgia player off the board, but with his ability to lock down the run game and develop into a dominant pass rusher, Carolina hits a slam dunk to their revamped defense.
NFL.com
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Chad Reuter
Take: Walker steps into the Panthers’ scheme as a pass rusher, a role in which he showed great promise at Georgia. His quick, strong hands help him win after the snap, and his quickness to the ball make him a menace when teams try running plays to his side of the field.
ESPN
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Mel Kiper Jr./Field Yates
Take: Carolina had big-time defensive issues last season. Walker can roam the second level with his sideline-to-sideline speed or fly off the edge to get home on the quarterback. The Panthers have to get some difference-makers on that side of the ball.
The Athletic
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Dane Brugler
Take: A hybrid player, Walker is at his best as a joker edge who can be flexed around the front seven and give a blocking scheme fits. There is certainly risk involved with his projection, but it isn’t hard to see why so many teams have Walker — who discovered his love for football about a half-hour north of Charlotte, N.C. — ranked so highly.
CBS Sports
Pick: Mike Green, EDGE, Marshall
Author: Ryan Wilson
Take: The former UVA transfer played at Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Virginia, the same school that produced Lawrence Taylor. Green, who weighed 251 pounds at the Senior Bowl, is incredibly explosive off the snap, plays with surprising power and consistently uses his hands well to get off blocks. He had the 1-on-1 rep of the week down in Mobile and his tape backs it up.
The Ringer
Pick: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
Author: Danny Heifetz
Take: You’d think that after the Panthers gave up the most points in a season in NFL history last year, they would take a defender in the first round. Yet the siren song of another receiver for Bryce Young may be too strong, especially since so many impactful defenders and fewer than usual high-upside receivers will likely be available on Day 2.
Underdog Network
Pick: Jalon Walker, EDGE/LB, Georgia
Author: Hayden Winks
Take: Albert Breer believes Walker’s range is from 4th to 8th overall. Walker isn’t a fit for everyone because he is so small, but the Panthers addressed their interior DL in free agency and can use a chess piece menace. He also has off-ball history, which happens to be the position of GM Dan Morgan. It’s time for Carolina to find a potential sack artist off the edge. Walker is an inexperienced shrunken Micah Parsons in terms of style and usage.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers mock draft roundup 10.0: Tracking the latest 2025 projections
