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Bryce Young didn’t have the best rookie season with the Carolina Panthers. The franchise traded an awful lot of draft capital away to move up and select him with the first pick in 2023, but he was outperformed by C.J. Stroud, to name just one other rookie quarterback.
The goal for the Carolina Panthers in the 2024 NFL Draft is to ensure that Young has a better roster around him for the season, while it’s also important that he's protected more by his offensive line.
In the backfield, there are issues for Carolina. It doesn't have an experienced line, while there's also a need for an injection of quality. With the Panthers not owning a first-round selection this year, it will be difficult for them to move up again and snag a serious offensive playmaker.
That's why their early focus is going to be on defense in the hope that an elite cornerback somehow falls out of the first round. This would be their best-case scenario, even if it doesn’t directly help Bryce Young.
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Carolina’s front office can’t afford to have a poor draft in 2024. It tied too much of its future up in Bryce Young. If th team doesn't get the required pieces this year, it's going to stagnate, and it will be even more difficult for Young to live up to his potential.
Carolina Panthers 2024 NFL mock draft scenarios
Panthers mock draft: Best-case scenario
Carolina’s prayers are answered as Kool-Aid McKinstry drops out of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft in this best-case scenario provided by Sportskeeda’s 7-round Mock Draft simulator.
McKinstry has excellent fundamentals on defense and has supreme athleticism at his position. He can bully receivers in man-coverage, while his aerial ability makes zone-coverage equally easy for him.
McKinstry is the sort of defender you can build a backfield around, and the Panthers need that. He's a lightning rod and a playmaker.
Xavier Worthy is a talented receiver, and he will help Bryce Young out greatly. Young needs more targets and Worthy is a reliable catcher and could end up being one of the primary targets in 2024.
Protecting Bryce Young is important, as well as ensuring the offensive line is consistent. For that, you need a great center and Zach Frazier is the best in the class.
Below him, there's a drop in quality at the position. Frazier is the ideal player to anchor the Panthers’ offensive line. He will keep Young upright as well as providing solid run blocking.
Ainias Smith is a clever option as a slot receiver. We’ve seen the growth in importance for that kind of player in recent years. Smith is quick and small and could provide Bryce Young with an electric short-distance target in 2024. He greatly improves the dynamism of the Panthers’ offense.
Here’s the selections in full:
· Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
· Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas
· Zach Frazier, OC, West Virginia
· Jonah Elliss, EDGE, Utah
· Ainias Smith, WR, Texas A&M
· Tip Reiman, TE, Illinois
· Keith Randolph, DT, Illinois
Panthers mock draft: Worst-case scenario
On the other side of the coin, the Carolina Panthers could have a disastrous 2024 NFL Draft. Sportskeeda’s 7-round Mock Draft simulator provided us with a look at what would represent a worst-case scenario for Bryce Young and the team.
Instead of improving their offensive line or backfield, the Panthers go with Ja’Tavion Sanders at TE from Texas with their first trip to the podium. Sanders would give Young a more vertical threat at TE, but the need doesn’t match up with the value of the player.
You can’t, if you’re the Panthers, go into 2024 without significant changes to your backfield and you don’t pass up playmakers at that position for Ja’Tavion Sanders.
T’Vondre Sweat adds a strong run-blocking presence for the Panthers at DT, but he isn’t needed. Derrick Brown’s contract extension kept the quality high at the position and A’Shawn Robinson was added in free agency.
Sweat isn’t needed, and the CB issue still goes ignored. This continues for the remainder of the draft in this worst-case scenario, with the Panthers failing to add a single player in the backfield.
That’s just not smart. When you’re up against it having traded away a lot of draft picks last year, you can’t afford to meander through the 2024 draft and not address key positions.
Marshawn Kneeland coming off the EDGE is perhaps the one pick here that could be defended, given the need to add to their defense, but Carolina fans would be furious if this draft plays out in such a manner.
Here’s how the worst-case scenario played out in full:
· Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas
· T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas
· Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE, Western Michigan
· Jermaine Burton, WR, Alabama
· Jaylan Ford, LB, Texas
· Michael Pratt, QB, Tulane
· Matthew Lee, OC, Miami (FL)
