Day one of the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books. The Carolina Panthers came away with offensive tackle Monroe Freeling, who wasn’t particularly prominent on the radar of Panthers fans coming in. He plays a position that probably isn’t the most pressing need for the Panthers right now, but it’s hard to get too upset about landing a player that can be a franchise tackle for the long term, even if his presence isn’t felt right away. Heading into Day 2 where player rankings are more clustered, it’s fair
to expect the Panthers to attack positions where players have a clearer path to contribute right away.
Normally the Panthers pick pretty early in the second round, so we don’t have to go too deep with these. That isn’t the case this year. Carolina picks 19th in both the second and third round, meaning they have the 19th and 51st selections of the evening. We won’t make it all the way to 51, but we can build a list to monitor as the Panthers’ second round pick approaches. I’m going to focus on position groups that Carolina is most likely to target, and we won’t spend too much time on guys that are highly unlikely to last more than a few picks into the second round.
Safety
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo
The Panthers made the somewhat surprising decision to pass on Dillon Thieneman at 19, especially considering a lot of people didn’t think he’d fall that far. Despite the apparent marriage of best player available and positional need, Dan Morgan and company went in a different direction. McNeil-Warren was considered a potential first round pick in his own right, so it’s unlikely he falls much farther. If he somehow makes it to the Panthers, it’ll be hard to pass on him. There’s a pretty significant dropoff in caliber of safety once he’s off the board.
Linebacker
The second and third rounds feel like a prime place to fund really good linebackers given the lack of value the position has league-wide right now. The Panthers spent big money on Devin Lloyd to lead the unit, but they still could use another starting caliber player here.
CJ Allen, Georgia
Allen got some buzz as a potential round one target for the Panthers early on in the draft process, but the hype around him seemed to fade pretty quickly. He’s a solid player with great intangibles.
Anthony Hill Jr, Texas
Hill is a tremendously athletic linebacker who utilizes his speed and explosiveness to make plays all over the field. He’s not overly physical, but he’s able to make up for that in other ways.
Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech
Rodriguez was absurdly productive at Texas Tech and tested better than expected at the combine. There’s a decent chance he ends up the best player out of this second tier of linebackers.
Jake Golday, Cincinnati
Golday is a huge converted defensive end now playing off ball linebacker. His length makes him disruptive over the middle of the field, and his background as a pass rusher makes him effective on blitzes. He’s still raw given his relative inexperience at the position, but the physical traits are all there.
Interior Defensive Line
Kayden McDonald, Ohio State
McDonald is a beefy run stuffer that has the power to push the pocket, though he’s not an overly productive pass rusher yet. He was a fringe first round talent and is unlikely to make it far into Day 2.
Christen Miller, Georgia
The Panthers have picked a Christian Miller once before. This one is a little raw, but he’s got good physical traits for an interior lineman and has the quickness to be disruptive.
Lee Hunter, Texas Tech
Hunter is a similar player to Miller, and it seems like the two are somewhat interchangeable in people’s rankings. Hunter is strong at the point of attack and can shed blockers to make plays at the line of scrimmage. Like the others in this position group, he’s not a productive pass rusher but can muck things up a little bit.
Wide Receiver
The Panthers could use one more receiver to bolster the unit alongside Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker with Xavier Legette’s long term potential looking more tenuous by the day.
Denzel Boston, Washington
Boston is a huge outside receiver that has almost no shot to make it too far into the second round.
Geramie Bernard, Alabama
Bernard is a jack-of-all-trades wide receiver in the mold of Deebo Samuel. He’s strong and quick but not overly fast, which makes him best operating in short areas of the field where he can make plays in tight spaces, though he can make plays on the outside as well. He’s a good blocker and would fit well as a complement to the versatility of the Panthers top two wideouts.
Antonio Williams, Clemson
Williams is another slot receiver that is from the area, hailing from just outside Columbia, South Carolina. He’s not overly explosive, but he’s a reliable target vacuum that knows how to get open. There’s always room on an offense for a guy like that.
Tight End
Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt
There’s only one tight end worth monitoring, at least in the second round. Stowers has been overshadowed by Kenyon Sadiq, but his combine performance was almost equally impressive. He’s more of a finesse tight end, which isn’t a surprise given that he’s a converted quarterback, but he has the athleticism and physical tools to be a possible matchup problem in the NFL.
