Carolina Panthers 2026 NFL Draft Needs, Picks & Depth Chart

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No matter how well they did in free agency, all 32 NFL teams head into the 2026 NFL Draft with holes to fill on the roster.

Leading into the draft, we will identify the top needs for every team and break down the depth chart position by position.

What are the Panthers' top positions of need heading into the 2026 NFL draft?

Carolina Panthers Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2026

1. Defensive Back
2. Offensive Line
3. Pass Catchers

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Carolina Panthers 2026 Draft Capital

The Panthers have the 20th-most draft capital according to our Sharp Football Draft Value.

Our Sharp Football Draft Value is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.

Carolina Panthers Mock Draft Predictions

Find out who our top-rated experts expect the Panthers to draft:

• Brendan Donahue's 2026 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #2 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
• Ryan McCrystal's 2026 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #20 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.

Carolina Panthers Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Carolina Panthers, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

Quarterback

1. Bryce Young
2. Kenny Pickett

Bryce Young did not stuff the stat sheet in 2025, completing 63.2% of his passes (22nd) for 6.2 yards per pass attempt (29th), 9.8 yards per completion (30th), and a 4.7% touchdown rate.

He threw for 200 yards in only four games.

Carolina ran an ultra-conservative game plan, throwing the ball 4% below expectations, which was 29th in the league.

Was that by design or insulation?

Over his rookie contract, Young has completed 61.4% of his passes (35th) for 6.0 Y/A (37th), a 3.5% touchdown rate (31st), and a 2.2% interception rate (26th).

In 2025, he completed 42.7% of his throws 10 or more yards downfield, which ranked 28th in the league.

Pair that with 72.6% of his passes coming shorter than 10 yards downfield, which was the seventh-highest rate in the league.

Carolina made the postseason last year and pushed the Rams, but they are approaching a fulcrum point in potentially giving Young a big contract extension without a large sample of above-rate production to warrant it.

In an effort to buy more time in making that decision, Carolina did pick up Young’s fifth-year option for 2027 at $25.9 million.

Carolina added Kenny Pickett as the backup this season.

Pickett made two starts with the Raiders last year, throwing for 4.2 yards per pass with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Running Back

1. Chuba Hubbard
2. Jonathon Brooks
3. Trevor Etienne
4. AJ Dillon
5. Anthony Tyus
6. Montrell Johnson

This backfield had a tale of two seasons in 2025.

Over the opening nine games, Carolina running backs had a 43.8% success rate (7th) with 4.8 yards per rush (9th).

Then over the final nine games, their backfield combined for a 32.1% success rate (30th) and 3.6 yards per rush (29th).

Their backs had a 6.4% rate of runs of 10 or more yards over the back half of the year (29th), down from 10.6% before (14th).

Coming off two strong seasons in 2023 and 2024 that earned him a contract extension, Chuba Hubbard took a step back last season.

Hubbard turned 164 touches into 734 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Hubbard suffered a calf injury in Week 4 that caused him to miss two games.

He said he forced himself to return too soon, which impacted his performance.

Hubbard lost his starting job at one point in the year to Rico Dowdle, before forcing himself back into a backfield split to end the season.

With Dowdle leaving in free agency, Hubbard has a runway to bounce back and take the lead in the backfield.

Jonathon Brooks is returning from missing all of the 2025 season with an ACL injury.

Carolina and Dave Canales are saying positive things about Brooks and his expectations for 2026, but he is a mystery box at this point, having played only 14 games of football over the past three years due to knee injuries.

We only had a brief glimpse of Brooks as a rookie in 2024, handling 12 touches for 45 yards.

Wide Receiver

1. Tetairoa McMillan
2. Jalen Coker
3. Xavier Legette
4. John Metchie
5. Jimmy Horn Jr.
6. David Moore
7. Brycen Tremayne
8. Ja’Seem Reed
9. Dan Chisena
10. Ainias Smith

Tetairoa McMillan turned in a productive rookie campaign, securing 70 of 122 targets for 1,014 yards and 7 touchdowns.

McMillan’s usage splits are strong on the surface, accounting for 25.4% of the team’s targets (11th) with 43.3% of the air yards (2nd).

But because Carolina was so run-heavy, McMillan had inconsistent opportunities in the box score.

McMillan had 3 or fewer receptions in seven games as a rookie.

Carolina did not do a great job getting McMillan involved in the base offense.

He had a 32.8% target share on third downs (3rd in the league), but only a 21.1% rate on early downs (22nd).

We would love to see Carolina put more on McMillan’s plate in year two and develop him to work around Young’s shortcomings as a passer.

McMillan’s rookie season shared a high resemblance to Marvin Harrison Jr's in Arizona.

Through two years, Harrison has played 80% of his snaps out wide with 1.6% of his targets at or behind the line of scrimmage.

As a rookie, McMillan was out wide for 85% of his snaps with a 1.6% target rate at the line of scrimmage.

Young threw the ball outside of the numbers 38.6% of the time, which was 24th in the league.

We already highlighted that Young had one of the lowest deep-passing rates in the league last year, which affected McMillan.

21.3% of his targets were on go routes, which was 11th among 76 wide receivers to run at least 300 routes.

That is part of why we saw Jalen Coker come on strong to close the year, when he finally leaped over Xavier Legette in the offense.

Coker caught 33 of 43 targets for 394 yards (11.9 yards per reception) and 3 touchdowns over 11 games last season.

He then closed the year with 9 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown in the playoff loss to the Rams.

Over the final seven games of the season, Coker had the same number of targets (40) as McMillan, catching 31 of those for 410 yards and 4 touchdowns.

McMillan had 21 catches for 347 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Coker was finally a full-time player during that surge, playing on 88% of the dropbacks.

Coker is under contract only for this season, but Carolina has restricted free-agent rights on him next offseason.

In his second season, Legette caught 35 passes for 363 yards and 3 touchdowns.

With Coker finishing the season strongly, Legette went out quietly.

Over the final seven games, Legette was only on the field for 65% of the dropbacks, catching 12 passes for 107 yards.

Leggette was just a first-round pick two years ago, so he cannot be completely written off, but he was considered a reach at the time of the selection and has done little to erase those thoughts over two seasons.

Carolina can still add competition and depth to this room.

Coker’s breakout to end the year was promising, but the overall sample size of production is small, while quality depth is still lacking.

Tight End

1. Ja’Tavion Sanders
2. Tommy Tremble
3. Mitchell Evans
4. Feleipe Franks
5. Bryce Pierre
6. James Mitchell

Carolina rolled out a three-man committee at tight end last season.

Ja’Tavion Sanders caught 29 passes for 190 yards and 1 touchdown in his second season.

He missed four games due to injury.

After averaging 10.4 yards per catch as a rookie, Sanders only managed 6.6 yards per catch last year, which was 71st at the position.

His 4.8 air yards per target ranked 47th.

Tommy Tremble caught 27 passes for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns.

His depth of target (4.4 air yards) was lower than that of Sanders.

Tremble is in the final year of his contract.

Carolina has its potential replacement lined up in Mitchell Evans.

Evans caught 19 passes for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns as a rookie.

Evans averaged 3.6 air yards per target as a rookie, 63rd among tight ends.

He made an impact primarily as a run blocker.

Carolina ran the ball 59.4% of the time with Evans on the field, compared to a 33.8% rate with Sanders and 46.7% rate with Tremble.

As a unit, this group is “fine,” but no one here suggests they should also push Carolina off potentially upgrading if they love a pass catcher at the position.

Offensive Line

LT: Rasheed Walker, Ikem Ekwonu
LG: Damien Lewis, Saahdiq Charles
C: Luke Fortner, Nick Samac
RG: Robert Hunt, Chandler Zavala, Ja’Tyre Carter
RT: Taylor Moton, Stone Forsythe

This offensive line was decimated in 2025.

Carolina’s most frequently used offensive line was on the field together for 20.5% of snaps, ranking 29th in the league.

Damien Lewis was the only starter to play in all 17 games.

Robert Hunt only played in two games during the regular season, forcing Carolina to play five different players at right guard for 100-plus snaps last year.

Lewis, Hunt, and Taylor Moton are all under contract for multiple seasons.

Left tackle and center remain open spots, big picture.

Ikem Ekwonu suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in the playoff loss, putting his status in 2026 in jeopardy.

With that up in the air, Carolina made a one-year investment in Rasheed Walker.

Walker made 48 starts for the Packers over the past three seasons.

He allowed a 6.4% pressure rate (56th among tackles last year) with 11 penalties (tied for the 10th most).

Ekwonu is on his fifth-year option, with an unknown timetable for playing in 2026.

Walker’s signing allows Carolina to take their time with Ekwonu this season, but he still has an expiring contract.

Carolina lost both players (Cade Mays and Austin Corbett) who took all of the snaps at center last season.

The team added veteran Luke Fortner, but only on a one-year deal for $2.75 million.

Fortner made 10 starts for the Saints last season due to injuries.

Carolina Panthers Defense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Raymond Summerlin breaks down the defensive depth chart by position for the Carolina Panthers, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

Defensive Line

1. Derrick Brown
2. Tershawn Wharton
3. Bobby Brown III
4. Cam Jackson
5. LaBryan Ray
6. Jared Harrison-Hunte

The Panthers struggled to slow down running backs last season, allowing 4.6 yards per carry (24th) to the position and finishing 31st in yards allowed before contact per RB run.

The defensive front performed that poorly with A’Shawn Robinson, who is a solid run defender but left in free agency.

Derrick Brown remained a good player last year, but he did not make as many plays in the backfield in the running game, finishing with 7 run stuffs.

Signed last offseason, Tershawn Wharton had a rough first season with the team and was limited to nine games.

Bobby Brown offers nothing as a pass rusher, but he can be effective against the run.

Robinson’s departure could open up more work for 2025 fifth-round pick Cam Jackson, who was limited to 85 rookie snaps.

The Panthers probably have enough here to get by, but upgrading Wharton’s spot would be a big help to the defense.

Edge Defenders

1. Jaelan Phillips
2. Nic Scourton
3. Princely Umanmielen
4. Patrick Jones II
5. Thomas Incoom
6. Trevis Gipson
7. Nick Hampton
8. Maema Njongmeta
9. Jamil Muhammad

The Panthers ranked 31st in pressure rate (29.6%) last season and 28th in sacks (30).

It was not surprising, then, when they spent top-of-the-market money to sign Jaelan Phillips in free agency.

Phillips finished fourth among qualified pass rushers in pressure rate (18.8%) last season despite logging just 5 sacks for the Eagles.

Pessimists could see the best pressure rate season of Phillips' career in a contract year as a red flag, but that level of play was impressive coming off two major injuries.

Adding Phillips should take pressure off 2025 second-round pick Nic Scourton and 2025 third-round pick Princely Umanmielen.

Scourton tied for the team lead with 5 sacks as a rookie, but his 10.1% pressure rate was not great.

Umanmielen struggled to force his way onto the field as a rookie, but the Panthers should hope for more in year two.

Patrick Jones did not offer much in his first season with the team thanks to a back injury that knocked him out after four games.

No one in that group is a proven option opposite Phillips, but the Panthers have already made their big move to improve the pass rush.

Linebacker

1. Devin Lloyd
2. Trevin Wallace
3. Claudin Cherelus
4. Isaiah Simmons
5. Bam Martin-Scott
6. Jacoby Windmon
7. Jared Bartlett
8. Mapalo Mwansa

Carolina made another splash by signing Devin Lloyd in free agency, the best off-ball linebacker available.

The Panthers did not get great play out of their linebackers last season, something that should immediately get better with Lloyd in the fold.

Trevin Wallace is the favorite to start opposite Lloyd, though his play through two seasons has left a lot to be desired.

Claudin Cherelus and Isaiah Simmons were retained in free agency, but they look more like depth options who can help out on special teams.

Simmons also brings versatility with his background at safety.

The best-case scenario for the Panthers is for Wallace to become a starting-level option next to Lloyd, but there are reasons to doubt that progression.

That makes linebacker a need heading into the draft.

Cornerback

1. Jaycee Horn
2. Mike Jackson
3. Chau Smith-Wade
4. Robert Rochell
5. Akayleb Evans
6. Corey Thornton
7. Michael Reid
8. Tyrek Funderburk

Not helped by their pass rush, the Panthers allowed 7.2 yards per attempt (21st) and finished 23rd in EPA allowed per pass attempt last season.

The Panthers have enough talent in the secondary to better those marks this season.

Jaycee Horn is not coming off his best season, but he is a quality No. 1 option who has allowed 6.6 yards per target and a 76.8 quarterback rating in his coverage thus far in his career.

Mike Jackson was active around the football last season, leading the league in passes defensed and allowing 7.1 yards per target.

Chau Smith-Wade did not have as much success as the other two as the primary slot option last season, which could be a spot for the Panthers to upgrade.

Jackson is also heading into a contract year, adding some longer-term contractual questions.

Adding a better No. 3 and some youth to this cornerback group makes sense.

Safety

1. Tre’von Moehrig
2. Nick Scott
3. Lathan Ransom
4. Demani Richardson

The Panthers got what they hoped for out of Tre’von Moehrig in his first season with the team.

He played a versatile role closer to the line of scrimmage, holding up well against the run and allowing just 5.9 yards per target in coverage.

Nick Scott played the deep safety role, though he did not fare as well in coverage and only got a one-year, $2 million contract to re-sign.

2025 fourth-round pick Lathan Ransom earned 336 rookie snaps in the No. 3 role, recording a tackle on 20% of his run defense snaps.

He is a good fit as a versatile option in big nickel looks.

With Demani Richardson also available as depth, the Panthers have enough at safety to get by, but it does not seem like Scott is the long-term answer next to Moehrig.

That means they could be looking at safety in the draft.

2026 Depth Chart Analysis & Team Needs for All 32 NFL Teams