All kinds of surprises can happen in the NFL draft - and this year will be no exception to the rule. However, based on what we know going in all signs point to the Carolina Panthers taking a Georgia Bulldogs edge rusher with their first-round pick, eighth overall.
Just about every plugged-in mock draft has either Jalon Walker or Mykel Williams going to Carolina at that spot, and the latest NFL draft odds at DraftKings Sportsbook reinforces that narrative. Those two prospects have the best chances of getting picked at that spot. Here's how the rest of the top 10 goes.
- Georgia Edge Jalon Walker: +175
- Georgia Edge Mykel Williams: +350
- Arizona WR Tet McMillan: +800
- Michigan DT Mason Graham: +850
- Michigan CB Will Johnson: +1300
- Penn State TE Tyler Warren: +1500
- Texas A&M Edge Shemar Stewart: +1500
- Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders: +1500
- Marshall Edge Mike Green: +1700
- Alabama LB/Edge Jihaad Campbell: +1700
It's unlikely that Mason Graham is going to fall this far, so we can probably scratch him off the list of realistic potential Panthers picks. Shedeur Sanders also doesn't make much sense for Carolina given Bryce Young's late surge last year - he is likely there in the case of a trade-down scenario for a team looking to jump over the New Orleans Saints, who are the favorites to draft Sanders at 9th overall.
That basically leaves Tet McMillan, Will Johnson, Tyler Warren and 4-5 different edge rush prospects as the most likely candidates to go to Carolina, assuming they stay at the 8th overall spot.
While they can almost certainly get a great edge defender here, we'd prefer they wait to address that need later on in the draft. There are a pretty high number of quality edge rushers in this class (Dane Brugler has 17 in his top 100) and not many blue-chip cornerbacks or tight ends.
You can't really blame the Panthers for wanting to put all their chips in on the edge right away, though. If they can land two strong edge prospects as projected long-term starters it will set them up for the potential exits of Jadeveon Clowney and DJ Wonnum next offseason in free agency.
