The 10 worst draft picks in Panthers history and the players they could’ve had instead
Every NFL team has a complete set of draft skeletons tucked deep in the closet — those picks that seemed so good at the time but that nobody wants to talk about anymore.
The Carolina Panthers certainly have accumulated their share over the past 25 years. For better and for worse, I covered them all. I picked my 10 best Panther draft picks first in this series in a separate column — Steve Smith, a third-round pick, was No. 1.
Now, as the Panthers prepare for their 26th NFL draft beginning April 23rd, it’s time to name my 10 worst Panther draft picks ever.
10. Vernon Butler, DT, 1st round in 2016 (No. 30 overall)
Butler wasn’t a complete bust, as he’s still in the league, but he was never the difference-maker a first-round pick needs to be. The Panthers showed how they felt about him by declining his fifth-year option in 2019. He’s now with the Buffalo Bills.
Also available when Butler was picked: Wide receiver Michael Thomas.
9. Kelvin Benjamin, WR, 1st round in 2014 (No. 28 overall)
Benjamin was talented, but he was also the rare player who actually got worse every season. After a strong 1,000-yard year as a rookie, Benjamin’s yardage declined every year afterward, and he didn’t play a single down in the 2015 Super Bowl year due to injury. He also came out looking bad in a pregame kerfuffle with Cam Newton in 2018 after Benjamin criticized Newton’s accuracy following his trade to Buffalo.
Also available when Benjamin was picked: Wide receiver Davante Adams.
8. Armanti Edwards, WR, 3rd round in 2010 (No. 89 overall).
Appalachian State fans know that Edwards was a once-in-a-generation talent in college, a dazzling quarterback who led the Mountaineers to two of their national championships and a legendary upset at Michigan. But the Panthers’ idea to trade a future second-round pick to move up, draft Edwards and make him into an NFL-caliber wide receiver and return man never worked out.
Edwards accounted for an amazing 139 touchdowns in four years at App State. In four years with the Panthers, he accounted for zero. He later carved out a solid career in the CFL.
Also available when Edwards was picked: Tight end Jimmy Graham.
7. Jeff Otah, OT, 1st round in 2008 (No. 19 overall).
The Panthers gave Philadelphia a first-, second- and fourth-round pick to choose Otah — undoubtedly one of the worst trades they ever made. Otah had persistent knee problems and played only 29 games before getting released.
In London at the 2012 Olympics, tennis star and Panthers superfan John Isner lost a nail-biter to Roger Federer and spotted me immediately afterward in a media scrum. “What’s the deal with Jeff Otah?” Isner asked. I didn’t have a good answer.
Also available when Otah was picked: Running back Matt Forte.
6. Eric Shelton, RB, 2nd round in 2005 (No. 54 overall).
Shelton followed a great pick in Thomas Davis that season. He was supposed to be a powerful short-yardage back. Instead, he became one of the biggest draft flops ever for Carolina, gaining only 23 yards total in two injury-plagued seasons before being released.
Also available when Shelton was picked: Running back Frank Gore.
5. Jimmy Clausen, QB, 2nd round in 2010 (No. 48 overall).
There was never a more depressing on-field period for the Panthers than the woeful season of 2010 when overmatched rookie Clausen ended up as the starter for 10 games and threw three TD passes. Not three TD passes in one game — three TD passes the entire season. On the plus side, the Panthers tanked that 2-14 season so thoroughly they got to draft Cam Newton the next year.
Also available when Clausen was picked: Wide receiver Golden Tate.
4. Dwayne Jarrett, WR, 2nd round in 2007 (No. 45 overall).
In an otherwise exemplary Carolina draft that produced Jon Beason, Ryan Kalil and Charles Johnson, Jarrett was the outlier. His most ignoble statistic: When Jarrett was released after three-plus seasons, he had more DWI arrests (two) than NFL touchdowns (one).
Also available when Jarrett was picked: Offensive guard Marshal Yanda.
3. Rashard Anderson, CB, 1st round in 2000 (No. 23 overall).
Anderson smoked his way out of the NFL, as repeated violations of the NFL substance abuse policy (his drug of choice was marijuana) meant he kept getting suspended and didn’t play a single NFL game after age 24.
Anderson told ESPN of his marijuana addiction in 2005 as he unsuccessfully tried to make a comeback: “People will say to me, ‘Man, you have p----- away millions.’ But when you’re doing it, you don’t think of it that way.”
Also available when Anderson was picked: Quarterback Tom Brady.
2. Jason Peter, DE, 1st round in 1998 (No. 14 overall).
For a pick in the top half of the first round, Peter was unproductive. Undersized and injury-prone, Peter exacerbated his problems with a full-on drug problem that began in college at Nebraska and he would write about in his autobiography “Hero of the Underground.”
Vicodin, cocaine, Ecstasy — Peter would admit to HBO to abusing all three while with Carolina, although the Panthers would say they were unaware of this until Peter revealed it.
Also available when Peter was picked: Wide receiver Randy Moss.
1. Rae Carruth, WR, 1st round in 1997 (No. 27 overall).
Carruth was slightly more productive as a player than the rest of the five worst picks, but he holds down the No. 1 spot because of his egregious personal life.
While in Charlotte, Carruth was convicted of masterminding a conspiracy to murder his pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams and was sentenced to 19 years in prison after what was Charlotte’s version of the O.J. Simpson trial. He was released from prison in 2018. I tracked him down in Pennsylvania not long after that and rang his doorbell. The full story can be found in my eight-part online series and accompanying podcast called “Carruth.”
Also available when Carruth was picked: Defensive end Jason Taylor.
