Why this Carolina Panthers’ newly drafted safety is considered ‘one of them ones’
Zakee Wheatley is “one of them ones.”
And no, Wheatley doesn’t say that about himself.
Instead, the comment, which is about as encompassing and flattering as they come, came from Kaleb Leach, the Carolina Panthers’ scout who spent the most time evaluating all that the newly drafted Penn State safety can do.
And Leach had his rationale ready.
“This is a dude who’s a dawg,” Leach, the team’s northeast area scout, said a few minutes after the Panthers drafted Wheatley. “He loves the game of football, and he plays it the right way. ... He sees the game before everybody else, and he’s so reactive and instinctual.”
Leach went on.
“He has a presence to him when he’s on the field and in the meeting room where it’s like, ‘I don’t know exactly who you are yet, but I wanna know more,’” Leach said. “So I’m glad we got him.”
Wheatley was the overall 151 pick in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft. But taking everything into consideration, Leach’s statement makes sense.
Zakee Wheatley is immensely versatile
The first noticeable qualities about Wheatley are his measurables. The word “rangy” is used a lot when describing him — meaning he’s tall (6-foot-3) with long arms (31”) and agile.
The next thing? He was a steal. At least, that’s what national draft insiders said after his selection. Many projected him to go sometime on Day 2, right in the mix with the AJ Haulceys and the Treydan Stukeses.
But the main thing Panthers personnel are excited about with Wheatley is his versatility.
“He fits the DNA that we want, the type of competitor we want,” general manager Dan Morgan said of Wheatley. “He can play in the post. He can play up in the box. He can do a lot of things for our defense that we’re excited about.”
Wheatley, who’s from Crofton, Maryland and is one of seven siblings, made plays all over the field his final year in college. He had 74 tackles in 12 games at Penn State. He also recorded two tackles for loss and one interception.
Stats on Pro Football Focus illuminate his coverage prowess a bit more. The big one: opposing quarterbacks struggled when targeting him, averaging a 69.2 passer rating. He’s physical and in the mix on most plays. He rises to the biggest moments, like against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff two years ago, when he notched 16 tackles, the third-most recorded by a Penn State player in a bowl game.
Wheatley thinks his versatility is his greatest strength, too.
“At the end of the day, football is a very versatile sport,” Wheatley said. “There are things and parts of my game that I definitely want to improve on. To me, I just feel like that’s every part of my game — being a well-rounded individual. Whether that’s tackling, whether that’s blocking structure, reading the quarterback, just doing everything I can in my power to be the best version of myself in every single category of this game to be the best player on Sundays to help my team.
“Any way I can grow and become a better player, learn and soak up everything the organization has for me, you know I can’t wait. I’m willing to do it.”
How fast is Wheatley?
Wheatley has heard those who doubt his speed. He posted a 4.62 40-yard dash at his Pro Day.
He has a response for those doubters — it all comes back to his versatility.
“What I would say about the speed, is that you can make up with it with football IQ and intelligence,” Wheatley said. “I have been around the game for a long time. Constantly getting stronger and faster. I can’t wait to show my speed in Carolina.”
Will Zakee Wheatley start right away?
Will Wheatley earn a starting role early — or at all — as a Panthers rookie?
Wheatley joins a safety room with Tre’Von Moehrig, Nick Scott and Lathan Ransom, three players who flashed at one point or another in 2025 and carved out meaningful roles for themselves.
Moehrig might’ve been the team’s fourth-most valuable defender last year, setting up anywhere on the field, from in the box and at nickel corner and at post safety. Ransom seemed to get better the closer he set up from the line of scrimmage. And Scott, after a difficult season debut, was about as consistent and available as anyone in the NFL last year — so much so that he was the fourth-highest earner of the NFL’s performance-based pay program in 2025, which rewards players who “outperform their contract value.”
This said, if the Panthers can hone Wheatley’s ability as a ball hawk in the deep-middle of the field, he can be exactly what this scheme needs. In theory, he could be an eventual heir-apparent to Nick Scott, who signed to a one-year deal in March. (The PSU connection doesn’t hurt on that end — Scott, 30, was a Nittany Lion and is someone Wheatley “has heard a lot about” and who is “very familiar with his game.”)
There’s more to learn about Wheatley — the “dawg” who the Panthers hope is “one of them ones.”
“I want to do anything I have to do to help this organization and help this team,” Wheatley said. “Whatever coach says he needs me to do to learn and to fit in, I want to do that. Full steam ahead.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
