Now that the Carolina Panthers feel they’ve secured the right head coach who can lead them to the promised land, the next top priority focuses on landing a franchise quarterback. You can bet Frank Reich is on board with this approach after seeing his rollercoaster tenure with the Indianapolis Colts end early, thanks to the organization’s inability to secure a long-term solution.
He doesn’t want to repeat that same year-to-year instability at the game’s most important position. While the Panthers do have Matt Corral, the 94th pick from last year’s draft on hand, as well as the ability to retain P.J. Walker as a restricted free agent, both options seem extremely risky to hang your hat on heading forward.
But this is why ESPN’s Dan Graziano expects the Panthers to be “aggressive” during this year’s NFL Draft, trying to find their QB of the future. This comes as no surprise for the Panthers either, as they hold the ninth overall pick in April and have also long struggled at the position.
Last year they opted to build in the trenches, selecting Ikem Ekwonu with the sixth overall pick. This time, they need to try and swing for the fences with a QB.
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But it may be the perfect year to do so, with as many as four quarterbacks expected to become first-round picks and possibly even all in the top 10. This means the Panthers could find themselves picking from either Florida’s Anthony Richardson or Kentucky’s Will Levis with their pick, yet general manager Scott Fitterer may realize the Panthers are just outside of the sweet spot to land their preferred signal caller.
If so, getting bold and packaging a combination of picks and players as they look to catapult up the draft board may be the only way to ensure Carolina can emerge with a potential face of the franchise. The Panthers hold just seven picks in this year’s draft, but four are in the top 100 selections.
Still, there’s a sense that if the Panthers want to move up further than just a couple of spots, they will likely have to part with a future first-round pick as well as their ninth choice this season. Will the Panthers bite the bullet and risk it for the biscuit this offseason? If not, we could be looking at Matt Corral as the team’s starter, which is likely not what coach Reich signed up for. Hence, the expected aggressiveness.
