Panthers post-draft depth chart: Tetairoa McMillan steps right in, defense has questions

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brad Obee had two stints totaling nine years in the Philadelphia Eagles’ scouting department. Obee didn’t win a Super Bowl ring with the Eagles — they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in his next-to-last year with the team. But he left Philadelphia with a good idea of what strong roster building looks like, which Obee said he saw the past three days in the Carolina Panthers’ draft room.

“(The Eagles) emphasized traits and players from big programs. And I do think this draft that the Panthers have had, this has been a great draft in terms of bringing in talented players from big programs,” said Obee, the Panthers’ Midwest area scout.

“This whole process has been consistent,” he added. “It’s hard to compare franchises, but I think this has been an awesome process. We’ve done a great job of finding quality players and quality people.”

Seven of the Panthers’ eight draft picks played in Power-4 conferences. The lone exception was tight end Mitchell Evans from Notre Dame, an independent with a long tradition that lost to Ohio State in the championship game. (Lathan Ransom, a Panthers’ fourth-round pick, played in the game as a Buckeyes safety).

Dan Morgan plucked half of this year’s draft class from the mighty SEC, although the Carolina general manager said that wasn’t by design. “Obviously, there’s some really good players in that conference, and we just so happened to draft them,” he said. “I think we got some good ones that we’re really excited about.”

The draft picks and undrafted free agents will be in Charlotte for rookie camp May 9-10, when Dave Canales will get a better feel for where the newcomers will fit in the depth chart. The Athletic is here to help.

Offense

Quarterback

Bryce Young/Andy Dalton/Jack Plummer

Young had to be one of the happier guys in Charlotte on Thursday night when Morgan passed on Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker with the eighth pick for Tetairoa McMillan. Young had lobbied for the Arizona receiver after throwing with him at a California training facility. It’s the second year in a row the Panthers have drafted a first-round wideout to help Young, whose successful return from a Week 2 benching was the biggest development in the team’s season. In McMillan, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, the Panthers now have three cost-controlled receivers surrounding Young as the 2023 No. 1 pick looks to solidify himself as a franchise quarterback.

Running back

Chuba Hubbard/Rico Dowdle/Trevor Etienne

Taking a running back in the fourth round might signal concern over Jonathon Brooks’ future status following a second ACL surgery. Morgan and Canales have offered no timelines on Brooks, who’s not listed here because of his injury. Etienne, the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne, averaged 5.6 yards a carry over three seasons at Florida and Georgia. With his experience as a returner, Etienne could bump reserve RB Raheem Blackshear from the roster.

“He’ll make you miss in a phone booth. Good contact balance. Return value, (can) catch the ball out of the backfield. He kind of can do it all,” Southeast area scout Corey Fuller said of Etienne. “And as you get to meet him and you learn more about him, interact with him, you kind of fall in love with the person as well.”

Wide receiver

Tetairoa McMillan/Jalen Coker

Xavier Legette/David Moore/Dan Chisena

Adam Thielen/Jimmy Horn Jr./Hunter Renfrow

With his 6-foot-4 frame, dependable hands and red zone potential, McMillan has drawn comparisons to Mike Evans, Tampa Bay’s All-Pro receiver whom Canales coached for a year as the Bucs’ offensive coordinator. McMillan’s arrival should take some of the pressure off Legette, who struggled with drops as a rookie. Horn, the sixth-round pick from Colorado, could become the main returner while being groomed to take over for Thielen in the slot.

“He’s a dynamic punt returner. It’s really fun to watch, but he’s more than that,” Canales said of the 5-foot-8, 174-pound Horn. “If you look at his body of work and just as a true receiver, he’s got an explosive element to him. He can stretch the field. He’s got run-after-catch ability. So I think just that whole thing.”

Tight end

Tommy Tremble/Ja’Tavion Sanders/Mitchell Evans/Jordan Matthews

Ian Thomas’ disappointing Panthers stint ended when the Panthers let him walk in free agency and he landed in Las Vegas. That left an opening for Evans, a fifth-round pick who was a solid blocker and reliable possession receiver for the Fighting Irish. Given their experience with Brooks, Evans’ ACL injury in 2023 should have given the Panthers pause. But Obee said Evans’ play in 2024 — when he caught a team-leading 43 passes for 421 yards — answered questions about his health.

Evans said the next step is improving as a blocker. “I know a lot of people kind of doubted my ability to come back from this injury, in the pass game specifically,” he said. “But I truly feel like to elevate my game to the next level I’m going to have to get better at blocking.”

Offensive line

Left tackle: Ikem Ekwonu/Brady Christensen

Left guard: Damien Lewis/Brady Christensen

Center: Austin Corbett/Cade Mays

Right guard: Robert Hunt/Chandler Zavala

Right tackle: Taylor Moton/Yosh Nijman

Immediately after the Panthers went through the draft without taking a tackle, Morgan informed Ekwonu they were picking up his fifth-year option, worth a guaranteed $17.56 million. That suggests the decision might have been different had the Panthers picked one of the tackles they had on their board. Exercising the option gives Morgan and Canales a year to evaluate both Ekwonu and Moton, who turns 31 in August and has a $31 million cap number in the final year of his contract.

“We love Taylor. Taylor is obviously a really good player. We’re excited about him and this season,” Morgan said. “From there, we’ll get together, and we’ll figure out the future. But right now we’re focused on the now.”

Defensive line

DE: Derrick Brown/LaBryan Ray

NT: Bobby Brown III/Shy Tuttle/Cam Jackson

DE: A’Shawn Robinson/Tershawn Wharton/Jaden Crumedy

Wharton, who signed a three-year, $45 million contract, is listed as a second-teamer here. While Ejiro Evero’s base scheme is a 3-4, the Panthers spend a lot of time in four-man fronts in their nickel package. So Wharton, who had a career-high 6 1/2 sacks last year in Kansas City, will not want for playing time. We listed Jackson, the gigantic, fifth-round pick from Florida, behind Tuttle on this initial depth chart. But it’s not a stretch to see the 6-foot-6, 328-pounder supplanting Tuttle, who took a pay cut after a tough 2024. Canales said versatility was one of the goals in reimagining the interior, where several players can line up at multiple spots.

Cam Jackson had 37 tackles and four tackles for loss last season with the Gators. (Matt Pendleton / Imagn Images)

Outside linebacker

SLB: Jadeveon Clowney/Nic Scourton/DJ Johnson

WLB: D.J. Wonnum/Pat Jones II/Princely Umanmielen

Again, the Panthers can mix and match with this edge group, which could look different in the coming weeks if the team trades or releases Clowney. It’s not that Clowney played poorly in 2024, but the Panthers added several younger players as they continue their rebuild, which may not be the best fit for a 32-year-old winding down a long career. Moving on from Clowney would leave Evero without his best edge-setter and would expedite the learning curve for Scourton, whom the Panthers believe can be effective against the run and as a pass rusher. Umanmielen is a quintessential speed rusher who — according to Etienne — hit 20 mph on a GPS tracking system when the two were teammates at Florida.

Inside linebacker

ILB: Josey Jewell/Trevin Wallace

ILB: Christian Rozeboom/Jacoby Windmon

It’s weird to see a Panthers depth chart that doesn’t include Shaq Thompson, who was not re-signed following season-ending leg injuries the past two years. I thought the Panthers might use a late-round pick on an inside linebacker for depth and special teams purposes, but maybe their experience with Michael Barrett scared them off. They did agree to terms with a couple of undrafted linebackers, including South Carolina’s Bam Martin-Scott.

Cornerback

CB: Jaycee Horn/Akayleb Evans

CB: Mike Jackson/Shemar Bartholomew

Nickel: Chau Smith-Wade/Demani Richardson

Given the lack of depth behind Horn and Jackson, this seemed like a position Morgan might have targeted on the third day. The fact that he didn’t might speak to the Panthers’ confidence in Bartholomew and Evans, a fourth-round pick of the Vikings in 2022 who started 15 games his second season. It also could mean Morgan figures he can see how training camp goes and make moves accordingly, as he did last year in trading for Jackson and claiming Bartholomew off waivers from the Jets.

Safety

FS: Tre’von Moehrig/Demani Richardson

SS: Lathan Ransom/Nick Scott

The Panthers entered the draft with only three safeties on the roster before drafting Ransom in the fourth round. The hard-hitting Buckeyes safety has a similar to skill set to Moehrig, who made a mark with the Raiders last year after injuries forced him into an inside-the-box safety role. Coverage was not Ransom’s strong suit in college. But his physicality resulted in six forced fumbles at Ohio State, and he plans to bring the same mentality to Charlotte.

“I just feel that I’m an enforcer and a tone-setter,” he said. “Every time I go out there and step on the field, I place an extremely big chip on my shoulder and just try to set the tone every chance I get.” Morgan could add Julian Blackmon or Marcus Williams after both made free-agent visits to Carolina.

Specialists

K: Ryan Fitzgerald/Matthew Wright

P: Sam Martin

LS: J.J. Jansen

Fitzgerald, who agreed to terms as an undrafted free agent, has to be considered the favorite after a perfect fifth season at Florida State. The All-American didn’t miss a kick last fall, connecting on 13 field goals and 14 extra points. He was 5-of-5 on kicks of 50 yards or longer, including a 59-yarder in the opener against Georgia Tech that was third-longest in ACC history.

(Top photo of McMillan: Aryanna Frank / Imagn Images)

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