When it comes to the top prospects of the 2022 NFL draft, do the Carolina Panthers love them or do they love them not? As of now, considering that it’s very much smokescreen season, it’s hard to tell.
But Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reported that one of the players the Panthers may be gaga over is offensive tackle Trevor Penning. Wilson wrote that the Northern Iowa product could be a trade-down target on Thursday for Carolina, who currently holds the sixth overall selection.
“’The Panthers love Penning,’ a source said. ‘He’s also a Ravens type of guy with a similar type of tough-guy attitude to Marshal Yanda.’
“Penning patterns his game after Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, who plays the game with a similar style.
“’We were watching NFL film and trying to learn how to do wide-zone and watched Taylor Lewan and Rodger Saffold a lot,’ Penning said during the Senior Bowl. ‘They were mauling people. It was really fun to watch.’”
Speaking of mauling, Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer may jump at the opportunity of said trade-down scenario. As he stated in his pre-draft presser on Tuesday, the front office believes they could have “three to four” teams seriously interested in a swap up to that No. 6 pick.
He also said he’d be fine with trading down into the teens, which is likely the sweet spot for Penning, if the opportunity arose.
“I think the comfort level would be really in the teens, Fitterer said. “However, this is a large group. This is a unique group that between the 25 and 50 range, there are a lot of good players—more like foundation-type players. You wanna be disciplined in not trading out of those levels. But I think the teens, if I had to put a number on it, that would probably be the most comfortable spot.”
The key to such an outcome would be the landing spots for the top three offensive linemen of the class—Evan Neal, Ikem Ekwonu and Charles Cross. If the trio is swept up before the Panthers are on the clock, perhaps they’d be inclined to reset their deck and settle with Penning a bit later on.
Until then, we’re just plucking more pedals.
