The latest seven-round 2025 NFL Mock Draft at PFN explores how the Carolina Panthers can come away from the next draft cycle as winners.
Getting more weapons for Bryce Young is essential, but there are also voids to target on the defensive side of the ball.
Who Could the Carolina Panthers Draft in the 2025 NFL Draft?
Note: The draft order for the 2025 NFL Mock Draft was derived from my record and playoff predictions for the 2024 NFL regular season.
1.5) Carolina Panthers: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
The Panthers could play Travis Hunter at WR or CB, but I’d prefer WR. In my opinion, that’s a better long-term stylistic fit for him, and it’s also where Dave Canales needs him most.
Hunter is the three-level threat Bryce Young needs. He has unmatched separation potential with his flexibility, he’s an acrobat at the catch, and he’s a dazzling creator after the catch.
2.61) Carolina Panthers (via LAR) Parker Brailsford, OC, Alabama
At 6’2″, 275 pounds, Parker Brailsford won’t be for every team at center. But if the Panthers are willing to look past his size, he has exciting range in the run game, and he counteracts his mass limitations with proper leverage as a pass blocker.
3.69) Carolina Panthers: Ashton Gillotte, EDGE, Louisville
In the long term, the Panthers could develop Ashton Gillotte into an impact player with his speed and bend at 270 pounds. In the short term, he’s a power plant across the front.
Rounds 4-7
4.102) Yahya Black, DT, Iowa
5.131) Jabbar Muhammad, CB, Oregon
5.134) Earnest Greene III, OL, Georgia
6.166) Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State
7.200) Xavier Watts, S, Notre Dame
7.219) Power Echols, LB, North Carolina
Panthers 2025 NFL Mock Draft Analysis
The headliner of the Panthers’ class in this 2025 NFL Mock Draft is Travis Hunter.
As mentioned in the mock, Hunter could feasibly serve as a WR or CB for the Panthers. Given the long-term uncertainty with Jaycee Horn and Dane Jackson, Hunter could end up filling a void on defense.
Nevertheless, my stance is that Hunter would be better used as a full-time WR for Young on the other side of the ball. Hunter’s style of physicality translates better on offense, and he has truly elite route-running potential with his speed, burst, and gravity-defying bend.
As talented as Panthers 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette is, he might not have the full route tree to be a WR1 like Hunter can be. And on top of his separation skills, Hunter can make incredible, acrobatic plays at the catch point as well.
Nevertheless, to hedge for the positional uncertainty with Hunter, the Panthers drafted a pure WR and a pure CB in this mock draft: Jaylin Noel and Jabbar Muhammad. Elsewhere, they also brought in EDGE help, center help, and a diverse cast of rotational defenders.
On Day 3, Yahya Black could be one of the team’s most intriguing additions. The 6’5″, 317-pound lineman is a tree trunk in the trenches, and his sheer sturdiness against double-teams could allow Derrick Brown to wreak havoc.
