Panthers put more offensive playmakers around young QB Bryce Young in NFL draft
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers new coach Dave Canales has emphasized to Bryce Young that he shouldn’t feel as if he has to do it all by himself this upcoming season.
Carolina backed up that talk in the NFL draft by continuing to put more players around Young to make the young QB’s job easier.
The Panthers used three of their first four picks on skill position players, selecting South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette in the first round and running back Jonathon Brooks and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders from Texas in the second and fourth rounds in hopes of bolstering an offense that finished last in the league in scoring and yards.
Along the way, new Panthers general manager Dan Morgan used a series of trades — four in the first two days — to restock the team’s draft capital.
Carolina entered this year’s draft with no first-round pick after former GM Scott Fitterer traded away four picks last year to get Young, including what ended up being the No. 1 overall selection. Morgan managed to get one of those picks back — a second-rounder in 2025 — in one of the deals.