Best players available for the Panthers heading into Day 2

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.