As a lead-up to the 2025 NFL draft, we've broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the Carolina Panthers.
You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2025 NFL Draft Hub.
Carolina Panthers Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2025
- Edge Rusher
- Defensive Back
- Wide Receiver
What Picks Do the Carolina Panthers Have in 2025?
The Carolina Panthers have 9 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, including:
- Round 1 (8)
- Round 2 (57)
- Round 3 (74)
- Round 4 (111)
- Round 4 (114)
- Round 5 (140)
- Round 5 (146)
- Round 5 (163)
- Round 7 (230)
Preorder The Best Analytical 2025 Football Preview
Don't miss out on Warren Sharp's 500+ page preview of the 2025 NFL season.
The preview is unlike anything you have ever seen, featuring stunning visualizations built with the reader in mind.
This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to get you prepared for the 2025 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.
Preorder the 2025 Football Preview now!
Carolina Panthers 2025 Draft Capital Stats
The Panthers have the 8th-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 Draft Value vs. Other Teams:
The Panthers’ draft value is 21% higher than the league average of all 32 teams.
Carolina Panthers Draft Prediction:
Find out who our top-rated experts expect the Panthers to draft:
- Brendan Donahue's 2025 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #2 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
- Ryan McCrystal's 2025 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #8 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
Carolina Panthers Strength of Schedule, 2025
The Carolina Panthers have the 7th-easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2025 NFL season.
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 2025 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Bryce Young
- Andy Dalton
- Jack Plummer
The Panthers hired Dave Canales last offseason due to his involvement in the resurgence of Geno Smith‘s and Baker Mayfield’s careers.
Hoping to max out the same type of development for Bryce Young following a disastrous rookie campaign, things got off to a rocky start.
Young was benched after two games into the 2024 season, and it appeared that the former No. 1 overall pick was heading toward being sunk cost.
After a car accident sidelined Andy Dalton in Week 8 (or perhaps divine intervention, since Dalton was also not playing good football at the time), Young regained the starting job and gave Carolina some promise that there is still something Canales can mold moving forward.
Young threw 15 touchdowns to 6 interceptions over the final 10 weeks of the season.
He threw multiple touchdowns in each of the season's final three games.
His big-time throw rate (7.7%) per Pro Football Focus was tops in the NFL.
There is still a lot of room to grow.
Over that span, Young was 18th in EPA per dropback (0.07), 27th in success rate (40.7%), 27th in completion rate (61.8%), and 28th in yards per pass attempt (6.6).
His 13.5% inaccurate throw rate was 29th over that period.
Carolina won games against the Saints, Giants, Cardinals, and Falcons, who were hardly world beaters last season.
However, the team also played competitive football over that stretch against the Chiefs (three-point loss), Bucs (three-point overtime loss), and Eagles (six-point loss).
Young still has a lot to prove, and this overall NFL sample to this point is not glowing, but there is at least a spark surrounding how the year closed compared to the dismal trajectory things appeared to be traveling toward.
The team retained Dalton this offseason on a two-year deal.
He will turn 38 this October.
Carolina was 1-4 in Dalton’s five starts.
Dalton got off to a hot start in a Week 3 win against the Raiders when he completed 70.3% of his passes for 319 yards (8.6 Y/A) and 3 touchdowns, but things came apart quickly afterward.
Over his next four starts, Dalton threw 4 touchdowns with 6 interceptions, averaging 5.5 yards per pass attempt.
Running Back Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Chuba Hubbard
- Rico Dowdle
- Jonathon Brooks
- Emani Bailey
Chuba Hubbard has improved yearly over his first four seasons in the league.
Building off a solid 2023 campaign, Hubbard turned 293 touches into 1,366 yards and 11 touchdowns over 15 games last season.
Among 46 running backs with 100 or more attempts last year, Hubbard ranked:
- 9th in EPA per rush (0.04)
- 11th in success rate (42.8%)
- 10th in rate of runs that failed to gain yardage (14.8%)
- 11th in rate of runs to gain a first down or touchdown (24.8%)
- 7th in yards after contact per rush (3.46)
Hubbard’s play earned him a four-year extension during the season.
The team likely did not want to lean on Hubbard as heavily as they needed to, and Hubbard missed the final two weeks due to injury.
With Jonathon Brooks and Miles Sanders missing so much time last year, Hubbard was forced to handle 81.5% of the backfield touches over his final 13 games.
With Brooks expected to miss all of the 2025 season due to suffering another ACL injury in his limited rookie sample and Sanders being released this offseason, the team needed to add a viable piece to complement and alleviate Hubbard’s workload.
They did that by grabbing Rico Dowdle.
Dowdle had a breakout season with the Cowboys, turning 274 touches into 1,328 yards and 5 touchdowns.
That included a first-hand look for Carolina when he rushed for 149 yards against the Panthers in Week 15.
Dowdle was 10th in success rate (43%) and 14th in yards after contact per rush (3.28).
With Brooks expected to be down for this season, the Panthers will surely add another body to the mix, but this is not a spot where they will reinvest premium capital.
Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Adam Thielen
- Xavier Legette
- Jalen Coker
- David Moore
- Dan Chisena
- Dax Milne
- T.J. Luther
- Bryce Tremayne
Adam Thielen continued to show some life when he was available last season.
Thielen averaged 4.8 catches for 61.5 yards per game with 5 touchdowns over his 10 games in 2024.
His 12.8 yards per catch were his most in a season since 2019.
His 2.06 yards per route run were his best rate since 2018.
Over the season's final six weeks, Thielen was 12th in receptions and 12th in receiving yards.
Thielen will turn 35 this August and missed 7 games last season, so this roster still needs to inject more young weaponry into this passing game.
They attempted to do that with the selection of Xavier Legette, whom they traded up to select with the final pick in the first round last year.
Legette is a receiver who needed refinement exiting college, and that showed up as a rookie.
He ended his first season catching 49 of 84 targets for 497 yards (10.1 yards per catch) with 4 touchdowns.
He finished 12th among rookie receivers in yards per route run (1.19).
His best season stretch came when Thielen was sidelined and he worked more from the slot.
Legette averaged 1.09 yards per route run (13th among rookies) when asked to win outside.
Carolina is invested in Legette and wants him to improve as a full-field wide receiver.
They may have found something in undrafted rookie Jalen Coker.
Coker ran 140 fewer routes last year than Legette but only had 19 fewer receiving yards than the first-round rookie selection.
He led all rookie receivers with a first down or touchdown on 50% of his targets, but that also came on a smaller sample, ranking 12th among rookies in routes run.
Legette and Coker have room to expand production but are still players built on promise over current output.
There is not much on the depth chart behind those names.
David Moore was brought back on a one-year deal, catching 32 passes for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns, filling in when called on last season.
Tight End Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Ja’Tavion Sanders
- Tommy Tremble
- Dominique Dafney
- Jordan Matthews
Carolina did not incorporate the tight ends heavily into the offense last season.
As a group, they received 86 targets (26th), caught 60 passes (26th) for 595 yards (27th), and had 3 touchdowns (25th).
They have a young player in Ja’Tavion Sanders in place to take on a more significant role.
Sanders was selected in the fourth round (101 overall) last season, catching 33 of 43 targets for 342 yards and a touchdown.
Sanders will turn 22 this March.
Tommy Tremble still has two years left on his current deal.
Tremble matched a career-high with 23 receptions last season despite missing five games.
He averaged a career-high of 10.2 yards per catch.
Offensive Line Depth Chart, Panthers:
LT: Ikem Ekwonu, Brady Christensen, Brandon Walton
LG: Damien Lewis, Jarrett Kingston, Ja’Tyre Carter
C: Austin Corbett, Cade Mays, Andrew Raym
RG: Robert Hunt, Chandler Zavala
RT: Taylor Moton, Yosh Nijman
The Carolina offensive line was a mixed bag in 2024, ending the season as a better run-blocking unit than in pass protection.
They ended the season 30th in ESPN's pass block win rate (52%) while ranking 10th in run block win rate (72%).
At Pro Football Focus, they ranked 15th in team grade in pass protection and 7th in run blocking grade.
Health was another issue up front.
Carolina’s most frequently used combination up front played only 24.7% of the team's offensive snaps (28th).
They did not have a starter to make it through the entire season.
Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis each missed a game.
Ikem Ekwonu missed two games.
Taylor Moton missed three games.
Cade Mays and Austin Corbett combined for 14 games played.
The team heavily invested in their guard play during free agency last year with Lewis and Hunt.
Lewis was a strong performer all around in his first season with the Panthers, and Hunt was better in the run game than in pass protection, something that was consistent during his time in Miami.
According to Pro Football Focus, Hunt ranked 18th among offensive guards in run blocking grade but 57th in pass blocking grade.
Hunt allowed a 5.8% pressure rate, ranked 71st among all guards with 100-plus snaps in protection.
Taylor Moton remains an anchor at right tackle but does enter this season in the final year of his current contract.
Moton was third at his position in pressure rate allowed (2.6%), trailing only Tristan Wirfs and Lane Johnson.
The team also has both centers (Mays and Corbett) in the final season of their current contracts, along with swing lineman Brady Christensen.
Left tackle is the most significant question mark big picture.
Ekwonu has failed to make a significant jump over his rookie contract.
The team will have to make a tough call about whether to pick up his fifth-year option this offseason.
Over his first three seasons in the league, Ekwonu has ended 51st, 41st, and 37th in overall grade among tackles, per Pro Football Focus.
In 2024, Ekwonu’s 6.6% pressure rate allowed was 70th at his position.
He also had 12 penalties, which ranked 91st.
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 2025 NFL Draft.
Defensive Line Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Derrick Brown
- Bobby Brown III
- Tershawn Wharton
- A’Shawn Robinson
- Shy Tuttle
- LaBryan Ray
- Sam Roberts
- Jaden Crumedy
- Pop Aumavae
- Jerrod Clark
The Panthers were dreadful against the run in 2024, finishing dead last in yards per carry allowed to running backs (5.2) and yards before contact allowed on those carries (2.07).
Unsurprisingly, the defensive line was an area of focus in free agency, with the team adding both Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown in March.
Brown should be the primary help against the run after four quality seasons with the Rams to open his career.
He finished 19th among qualified defensive linemen in tackle rate on run defense snaps.
Wharton should be more of a factor as a pass rusher after logging 6.5 sacks for the Chiefs last season, though his career 7.5% pressure rate is nothing to write home about.
Part of Carolina’s struggles last season can be explained by losing Derrick Brown to a knee injury in Week 1.
He is one of the best defensive linemen in the league when healthy, and he should be good to go for 2025.
Carolina can probably hope for more from A’Shawn Robinson, who is a veteran with some good football on his resume.
He actually tied for the team lead in sacks last year with 5.5, though his 7.1% pressure rate was not outstanding, and contributed 10 run stuffs.
The top three are under contract for multiple seasons, and the backups are all experienced, especially after getting a lot of snaps last season.
This is a solid spot for the Panthers.
EDGE Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Jadeveon Clowney
- D.J. Wonnum
- Patrick Jones II
- Amare Barno
- DJ Johnson
- Thomas Incoom
- Carlos Basham
- Kenny Dyson
Not only could the Panthers not stop the run, but they also could not get after the quarterback, finishing dead last in pressure rate.
They ranked 29th with just 32 sacks all season.
That said, neither Jadeveon Clowney nor D.J. Wonnum was terrible off the edge last season.
Clowney only managed 5.5 sacks in 14 games, but his 13.7% pressure rate ranked 28th among qualified pass rushers.
Wonnum’s Panthers career was delayed after suffering complications in his recovery from a 2023 quad tear.
Once he returned, he logged 4 sacks in eight games with a 12.1% pressure rate.
Carolina added Patrick Jones to the mix after his breakout, 7-sack season with the Vikings in 2024.
His pressure rate last season (8.1%) did not look much different than the rest of his career, though, suggesting those 7 sacks were something of a fluke.
A 2023 third-round pick, DJ Johnson has not shown anything, and there is not much in the way of quality depth behind those top three.
Add in that both Clwoney and Wonnum are headed into their contract year, and this is a spot the Panthers could target early in the draft.
Linebacker Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Josey Jewell
- Trevin Wallace
- Christian Rozeboom
- Claudin Cherelus
- Jon Rhattigan
- Jacoby Windmon
Shaq Thompson’s days in Carolina are finished, though he had not contributed much for two years because of injuries.
Josey Jewell only played 12 games in 2024, but he was a nearly every-snap player when healthy.
He led the Panthers with 12 run stuffs in those 12 games, recording a tackle on 17.2% of his run defense snaps.
He did not stand out in coverage, allowing a 92.3 quarterback rating, but that has never really been his game.
A 2024 third-round pick, Trevin Wallace led the rest of the group in snaps but did not have a great go of it.
The Panthers added Christian Rozeboom in free agency, and he should compete with Wallace for that other starting spot.
Carolina may have already made their move here, but this is not the strongest linebacker unit in the league.
Rozeboom is also on a one-year deal.
Cornerback Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Jaycee Horn
- Mike Jackson
- Chau Smith-Wade
- Akayleb Evans
- Shemar Bartholomew
The lackluster pass rush did not help, but the Panthers allowed 7.6 yards per attempt (28th) and a league-worst 6.6% touchdown rate in 2024.
Jaycee Horn did manage to mostly stay on the field last season, playing in 15 games and earning a Pro Bowl nod.
He finished 17th among qualified corners in yards per coverage snap allowed, and he was rewarded with a big contract extension.
Mike Jackson was the other primary option last season.
He struggled a bit, allowing a 106.5 passer rating on targets in his coverage, but he did finish third among all defenders in passes defended.
Of course, he was also targeted the 10th-most of any player last season.
Jackson did get a new two-year deal this offseason, which means the Panthers expect him to keep that starting spot opposite Horn.
A 2024 fifth-round pick, Chau Smith-Wade worked as the primary slot guy at times last season, including a run of games toward the end of the year, and he had decent yards per snap numbers.
The Panthers could go into the season with this group, but they need some more depth, and a talent infusion to the starting three would be welcome.
Safety Depth Chart, Panthers:
- Tre’von Moehrig
- Demani Richardson
- Nick Scott
Both Jordan Fuller and Xavier Woods are gone, and Tre’von Moehrig was one of the big additions early in free agency.
Moehrig was impactful against the run last season for the Raiders, finishing second among all defensive backs in run stuffs.
He should occupy one of the starting spots.
Both Demani Richardson and Nick Scott are back, though neither really stood out a season ago.
The Panthers could use a starter-quality addition, whether that is in the draft or through one of the veterans still available in free agency.