What should the Carolina Panthers do in 2025 NFL Draft? The answer is simple
Because of the hours and days and months and even years in which NFL Draft prospects are studied, there can be a tendency to overthink it.
Paralysis by analysis is a real thing, and the Carolina Panthers need to avoid it in this critical 2025 NFL Draft. On Thursday night, when they are on the clock with the No. 8 overall pick, I hope they utter two words:
Jalon Walker.
My second choice? Two different words:
The Georgia linebacker, though, is the player I hope they take at 8. Walker is the sort of defensive game-wrecker whose highlights remind me a little of former Panther Frankie Luvu — a player Carolina never should have let walk out the door in the first place. Now here comes another chance, for a team in desperate need of difference-makers on the defensive side of the ball.
I’m sure the Panthers are being tempted by the offensive players out there. One more big-time weapon for Bryce Young and all that. And they are welcome to use their No. 57 overall pick on offense if they need to.
But let’s not over-complicate things, and let’s not forget what it was like to see the Panthers give up the most points in NFL history in 2024. Not in their history (although it was that, too). In NFL history!
Walker can help change that. This should be a defense-first draft for the Panthers, and Walker should be at the top of the class. He’s from Salisbury, only a 45-minute drive up Interstate 85 North from Charlotte.
That’s a nice bonus, but it really makes no difference in why I want him to become a Panther. I want Walker because he’s an outside linebacker/edge rusher who is smart and who makes plays. Even though he’s a bit undersized for an edge rusher at 6-1 and 243 pounds, you watch Walker long enough and you realize he’s just the sort of player the Panthers need. He also flies around the ball in the same way that another former Georgia Bulldog used to in the NFL. His name was Thomas Davis.
Davis was also a hybrid player coming out of Athens, Georgia, and the Panthers actually tried to make him a safety for a while, before they realized what Davis did best was find the ball and hit people closer to the line of scrimmage.
It’s difficult to tell whether the Panthers actually want Walker or if they’re just making a good show of it. General manager Dan Morgan didn’t shy away from answering a couple of questions about Walker in his recent pre-draft press conference. Morgan called him a “great kid” and “super smart,” noting that Walker is the son of a college football coach (his dad was once the head coach at Catawba) and has been around the game his whole life. He also said Walker projects as an outside linebacker for the Panthers.
Now is all that a smokescreen and will the Panthers take someone else? Or will Walker actually be gone before the draft gets to No. 8, because Jacksonville at No. 5 is also rumored to really like him? Impossible to say. But if Carolina isn’t going to take him, I think the “trade back” scenario would be the most intelligent way to go. This assumes that Mason Graham, the Michigan defensive tackle, is already gone. He’d fit here nicely, too, but likely will be taken within the first half-dozen picks.
As far as how the trade back would work, I think the Panthers could drop as many as 10-15 spots if they needed to and still secure a fine defensive player. South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori is an intriguing option at a position where Carolina is thin, as is Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku. Two of Walker’s defensive teammates at Georgia — defensive tackle Mykel Williams and defensive back Malaki Starks — also would be realistic choices. Adding another draft pick within the first several rounds via a trade would give Carolina another throw at the dartboard.
But the simplest thing to do here is the best. If a really good “trade back” scenario doesn’t present itself, just take the guy from Salisbury who went to Georgia and became a star. Walker could make an immediate impact in Charlotte. Make him a third-down player to begin with, ease him toward a starting role and watch the Carolina defense instantaneously become more dynamic.
“You’ve got Patrick Jones (and) D.J. Wonnum, these big bodies that are really stout and can play the run well — (that) gives us some flexibility on who we could potentially draft,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said recently of the Panthers’ outside linebacker position. “Like, we could draft someone who is similar, or we could draft someone who is more of a pass rusher.”
Exactly. And Walker is that pass rusher, who tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks for Georgia last season. An effective pass rush is the great equalizer for defenses. Walker’s skills will translate. Time to go get him.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
