Panthers 2026 NFL Draft stock watch: Brooks, Wallace avoid additional competition
The Carolina Panthers want to challenge every rung of their depth chart ahead of the 2026 regular season. That outlook was made apparent following the team’s first-round selection of offensive tackle Monroe Freeling on Thursday.
“We’re always just going to try to challenge every room, and the way we do that is by picking the best player that fits that,” head coach Dave Canales said after the Freeling pick. “That’s what this approach was. It’s pretty consistent with our philosophy of just challenging the roster in different ways. And then, of course, the best player available.”
Throughout draft weekend, Canales and general manager Dan Morgan added to a handful of position rooms. While some of the Panthers’ seven draft picks will serve primarily as depth and special teams cogs, the likes of Freeling, Lee Hunter, Chris Brazzell II and Sam Hecht could end up pushing their new teammates down or off the roster totem pole.
As the Panthers prepare to defend their NFC South crown, the veterans on the roster might need to prepare for some youthful competition. Others, though, made out well this past weekend, as Morgan and Canales waited until after the draft to add to their rooms.
Let’s take a look at whose stock went up and down following the draft:
Stock up: Nick Scott
Scott won’t need to worry about upgraded competition heading into training camp. The team passed up Oregon’s Dillon Thienemen for Freeling in the first round, and Morgan decided to wait until the fifth round to dial up a safety for selection.
While the Panthers traded up to land Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley, he is more likely to be used in a sub-package role than a starting job as a rookie. Scott could serve as a mentor for Wheatley this season, as the elder defensive back also went to Penn State and knows Ejiro Evero’s defense as well as anyone.
Scott seems to be situated opposite Tre’von Moehrig in the starting secondary.
Stock down: Rasheed Walker/Ickey Ekwonu
The Panthers have kept an optimistic tone while addressing Ekwonu’s recovery from patellar tendon surgery this offseason. But the reality of the situation is a bit more bleak, based on history. Even if Ekwonu is able to return from the procedure this season, he isn’t likely to be true to form by the end of the campaign. That’s partially why the team signed Walker and Stone Forsythe in free agency.
Walker, who was a three-year starter in Green Bay, signed an incentive-laden contract with the Panthers in March. The veteran lineman’s contract has a base value of $4 million, which is on par with high-level swing tackle money. With the drafting of Freeling, Walker will have even more merit to earn this summer, as the two new arrivals are likely to battle for one starting job. Freeling — given the investment made in him — should receive the benefit of the doubt in that competition, despite his inexperience.
That outlook could lead to Walker being a primary backup after the NFL showed limited interest in him as a franchise left tackle.
Stock up: Jonathon Brooks/Trevor Etienne
The Panthers passed up the opportunity to add a running back in the draft this past weekend. And while the team signed veteran A.J. Dillon in free agency, the lack of a draft move appears to be a vote of confidence in Brooks and Etienne.
Brooks is coming off back-to-back ACL surgeries, but he is taking part in this year’s offseason program. The 2024 second-round pick has only appeared in three NFL games, but the Panthers are hoping he can take over for Rico Dowdle as a key cog in the backfield. Etienne, a fourth-round pick last year, should also get plenty of opportunities to play on Sundays with Dowdle now in Pittsburgh.
Carolina also failed to add a dynamic returner on special teams. So, in theory, Brooks and Etienne could secure those roles as well.
Stock down: Xavier Legette
The Panthers won’t ever rest with their wide receiver depth chart. On Friday, the team added Tennessee wideout Chris Brazzell II in the third round. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound speedster is dynamic down the field, and he could be the latest threat to Legette’s standing in Carolina.
Brazzell, in theory, would be quite the complement to Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker in three-receiver sets. That said, he will need to show up and show out throughout the summer to push Legette out of the lineup. Legette, a 2024 first-round pick, has flashed at times during his two years in Carolina, and he is facing an all-important offseason with Brazzell and John Metchie being added to the offense.
Legette is on the hot seat as far as the starting lineup goes.
Stock up: Trevin Wallace
Wallace is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery. And while the team already added Devin Lloyd in free agency, there was some thought that the Panthers could double-dip at inside linebacker this offseason.
Instead, the Panthers focused their premium picks elsewhere. So, Wallace should get the first shot at starting opposite Lloyd in base packages.
Still, Wallace will need to hold off Claudin Cherelus and others this summer. Seventh-round selection Jackson Kuwatch is more of a developmental flier at this point.
