If the Carolina Panthers could select any single player from the last five drafts, who would it be? Well, the answer may be a tough one to swallow.
The staff over at Bleacher Report just set up one heck of a scenario—an “ultimate” five-year NFL re-draft. Every player taken from 2020 to 2024 was placed in a pool, with six of the site’s writers representing all 32 of the league’s teams.
Being that the Panthers currently carry the lowest win projection and Super Bowl odds for this upcoming season, they were given the No. 1 overall pick of the re-draft. And with that pick, Carolina selected Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
B/R staff editor Bryan Toporek writes:
The Carolina Panthers could have taken C.J. Stroud with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft, but they went with Bryce Young instead. After seeing how their respective rookie seasons played out, this exercise gave them a redo on that decision.
Whereas Young scuffled as a rookie, Stroud went on to win Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions while helping to lead the Houston Texans to a surprise playoff berth. He led the league with 273.9 passing yards per game and ranked third in yards per pass attempt (8.2).
Incredibly (and perhaps painfully) enough, this is a pick the Panthers actually could’ve made without the benefit of an “ultimate” re-draft. The organization, instead, took Young—who averaged just 179.8 passing yards per game in his rookie season.
Stroud, in the first round of this fantasy exercise, was taken before fellow quarterbacks Joe Burrow (No. 2), Justin Herbert (No. 6), Jordan Love (No. 7), Caleb Williams (No. 9), Jayden Daniels (No. 10), Anthony Richardson (No. 11), Jalen Hurts (No. 13), Tua Tagovailoa (No. 14), Brock Purdy (No. 17), Trevor Lawrence (No. 20) and Drake Maye (No. 24).
Young, even with eight extra compensatory picks, was not selected.
