Analytics point to Carolina Panthers draft class as one of NFL's best

In a surprising twist from business as usual, the Carolina Panthers are getting lauded from practically every party for what is regarded as a strong haul in the 2025 NFL draft. With the exception of using a fourth-round pick on a No. 3 running back (Trevor Etienne), we liked every pick they made and some outlets - such as Pro Football Focus - have give the Panthers an A+ grade for their draft class.

It's not just reviewers who like what they saw from Carolina, either. The numbers also point to a pretty solid group of picks. According to an analysis by The Athletic, the Panthers landed one of the best draft classes in the league when it comes to analtics.

"The Panthers picked three of the first 77 players drafted, and they went after premium positions with all three. Furthermore, the Panthers almost exclusively took players who rated higher on the consensus board, gaining value at each spot."

A lot goes into making any draft class a success or a bust, but you can certainly do worse than targeting the best athletes at premium positions. The Panthers did that here - and excelled in the details, as well. It would have been easy to take an edge at No. 8 overall - and Carolina was widely expected to use that pick on Georgia's Jalon Walker.

However, to pass on an elite wide receiver like Tet McMillan when there were still two-dozen or so highly-ranked edge prospects on the board would have been a mistake. The Panthers zigged here whereas they were expected to zag, getting a high value pick in Round 1 and still landing two highly-regarded edge prospects with their next picks.

As always it will take time (at least two seasons) to fairly judge how each pick does at the next level, but as far as process goes the Panthers did things the right way with this draft - building on the legitimate hope that they may be turning the corner soon.

If those early picks work out and Bryce Young can pick up where he left off at the end of last season in Atlanta this team is going to surprise a lot of people in 2025.