As Jonathan Mingo returns, so do reminders of Panthers’ fraught WR draft history
When the Carolina Panthers face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium — in a game in which they’ll be favored for the first time in two years — the team in Process Blue will be reminded of its past.
Courtesy of Jonathan Mingo.
Mingo, after all, was the Panthers’ second-round pick in the 2023 draft and is now returning to Charlotte for the first time on Sunday since being traded to the Cowboys earlier this year. Panthers general manager Dan Morgan dealt him and a seventh-round pick to America’s Team in exchange for a fourth-round pick right before this year’s trade deadline.
But Mingo’s return does more than remind Panthers fans of a player the organization once believed in and then was soon after traded away. It offers an access point into the Panthers’ fraught history with drafting wide receivers — of trades that have aged to varying avail, of devastating ACL tears ... and of questions of “what if?”
Here’s a tiered list of the 13 wideouts the Panthers have drafted since 2010. And yes, this includes rookie Xavier Legette — the only WR the team drafted who remains a Panther.
The best of the bunch
Curtis Samuel, second round, 2017: Samuel is now on his third NFL team in his eight-year pro career. And he’s been productive as a second-option receiver/gadget playmaker everywhere he’s been. He spent four years in Carolina with his best one in 2020: 851 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. He signed with Washington in free agency in 2021. Today he’s with the Buffalo Bills.
DJ Moore, first round, 2018: Moore doesn’t just rank as one of the best receiver draft picks since 2010. He’s one of the Panthers’ best draft picks since 2010 — period. In his five seasons in Carolina, Moore finished with three 1,000-plus-yard seasons before being traded ahead of the 2023 draft in a deal with Chicago that delivered the Panthers the No. 1 overall pick. Moore has been good with the Bears, too: He notched a career-high 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns last season and is positioned to crest that 1,000-yard mark again in 2024.
Panthers ‘what if?’ players
Brandon LaFell, third round, 2010: LaFell joined a wide receiver room led by Steve Smith and many envisioned his drafting would lead to the kind of one-two punch that could carry on for many years. Alas, LaFell’s start wasn’t fast in Carolina — he only started every game he played by 2013, his final year — and his best seasons statistically both happened after he left Charlotte: in 2014 with the Patriots and 2016 with the Bengals. LaFell hasn’t played an NFL season since 2018.
Armanti Edwards, third round, 2010: It’s hard to find someone as revered as Edwards was coming out of college. Superstar doesn’t begin to define him at Appalachain State. He arrived to the Panthers as a quarterback but never got the chance as the starter. He transitioned in 2012 as a receiver and caught five passes for 121 yards. His final NFL season was in 2013, where he spent time in Carolina and Cleveland. He to this day remains one of the biggest “what if?” guys in Panthers history. Observer columnist Scott Fowler caught up with Edwards a few years ago and asked him about his experience with the Panthers, to which he replied, in part: “You start to hear that the coach (John Fox) didn’t even want to draft you. ... I felt like I wasn’t getting the help I needed to be a returner, let alone learn how to play receiver. ... It was a lot of hardships. A lot of dark times.”
Kelvin Benjamin, first round, 2014: Ah, yes. Enter one of the Panthers’ most polarizing players. There’s a lot to parse through in Benjamin’s stint in Carolina: His rookie year was phenomenal: He set a rookie receiving record pulling in 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. Then he missed all of 2015 with a torn ACL, the height of the Panthers’ offensive powers. Then, in 2016, he returned for 941 yards and seven touchdowns. Then in 2017 he was traded away and then bounced around the league a bunch thereafter ... and had several moments that didn’t endear him to the fan base. Among them: In 2018, he took shots at Cam Newton’s accuracy — something that came to a tense head when the two met later that season — and even bluntly stated, “I should’ve just been drafted by somebody else. I should’ve never went to Carolina.” Benjamin officially retired in August 2021.
Terrace Marshall Jr., second round, 2021: Marshall’s case in the NFL is a strange one. He was arguably the best training camp receiver the Panthers had this year — highlighted by a Randy Moss-like touchdown over a Jets player during joint practice, which spawned some taunting and mild brawling. But the question remained: Why didn’t it show up on Sundays? In his three seasons with the Panthers, he only caught 64 passes and never broke the 500-yard mark on a season. The receiver — who rarely played special teams — was a healthy scratch by the end of 2023. He signed with the Raiders after failing to make the Panthers’ 53-man roster this year and has played three games for the Las Vegas team.
Not enough time in Carolina
David Gettis, sixth round, 2010: For a sixth-round pick, Gettis was everything the Panthers could’ve asked for. He made the team, carved out a role for himself and started 13 of 15 contests and notched 508 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Then in August 2011, he injured his left knee, missed the rest of the season — and never returned to top form, bouncing from team to team through 2014 before being out of the league by 2015.
Jonathan Mingo, second round, 2023: No matter what the stats say — and they’re not the most riveting — 1.5 seasons anywhere isn’t enough time to deduce how good a player can be. Mingo’s 24 games in Carolina produced no touchdowns and only 539 yards. His four games in Dallas have only resulted in two catches on 11 targets for 10 yards. Context is required, of course. The Cowboys are down their franchise quarterback. Things are bleaker than they’ve been in a decade down there — hence the Panthers being favored this coming Sunday. Still, it’s understandable why trading away Mingo was considered a “win” for Morgan and the Panthers. Time will still soon tell.
Xavier Legette, first round, 2024: He’s a rookie. So this was an easy classification. Legette’s first year has been up and down — one replete with potential. It’s shaded a bit right now by his latest go-ahead touchdown drop against the Eagles, but as The Observer has pointed out repeatedly, his struggles need context (and must be weighed against his obvious pluses).
The forgotten few
Kealoha Pilares, fifth round, 2011: Pilares played two seasons of NFL football. In 2011 he set a then-franchise record with a 101-yard kick return for a touchdown against the Detroit Lions. He then played in eight games with the Panthers in 2012 — recording two receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown — before being placed on injured reserve in 2013 and then being released in 2014, his last year in the league.
Joe Adams, fourth round, 2012: Adams was a receiver for one year with the Panthers. He returned kicks the first three games and was benched at the position after losing two fumbles in one contest. He has nine career NFL games to his name; his last NFL transaction was in 2014.
Terry Godwin, seventh round, 2019: Godwin didn’t make the Panthers squad in 2019 and was later picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he did some kick returning in 2020. The last NFL transaction involving Godwin was he was waived by the Titans in August 2022.
Shi Smith, sixth round, 2021: The South Carolina grad always had talent. Head coach Matt Rhule loved him. But he ultimately only played two seasons with the Panthers before getting cut ahead of the 2023 season. He’s still in the league, though he’s bounced around from team to team since. Most recently, the Chiefs waived him in May 2024, and the NFL suspended the free agent for six games in October, per the league’s transaction log, for an undisclosed reason.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
