The Athletic Presents: Joseph Person's Panthers mock draft 1.0 extravaganza

[Swaggasaurus]

21 minutes ago, csx said:

Mesidor had more sacks, more tackles, more tackles for loss, more forced fumbles while playing 1 less game. 

Its a team sport. They benefited from each other.

Id prefer an OT or top inside linebacker but Mesidor is no slouch

I like OT Freeling if available as my realistic preference. After that give me Mesidor or another edge with a refined pass rush/can shorten the corner and use their hands.

[SmokinwithWilly]

3 hours ago, strato said:

As far as age, I doubt the Saints regret taking Shough, Different position I know, but if he is ready to step in? 
 

I expected not to like Person’s choices but I am good with this. At least, without looking to see who he passed on to take these guys.

I can say, the last thing I want to see in the 1st or 2nd round is a WR or TE. 

Unless you get a true franchise HOF trajectory QB pick, age is really irrelevant. Worst case you get 2 contracts out of Shough, barring major i jury, if he's still the guy.

How many of us would love to have a QB undoubtably worthy of a 2nd contract? Most of the time you get the 1st contract plus 2 years before the costs on the back end really start making it hard to build a playoff team. Only way around that is exceptional drafting. 

[csx]

The age thing never made much sense to me. Especially going forward thinking will need to change.

[Panthero]

1 hour ago, MHS831 said:

That was my first thought.  However--and hear me out.  If a good Edge takes 2 years or more to develop, and they are in "win now" mode, a 25-year old, mature player could reach his full potential earlier--let's say at 26.  Then you have an edge on a rookie contract with 5th year option during his prime--25-30 years of age.  Instead of spending 2-3 years developing an Edge and then paying him a huge contract with only one or two years of high performance on a rookie deal....Of course, I am assuming he will be, at 25, better than others at 21 or so....

Yes. I get the logic, its just which of the alternatives is what happens. But definitely see your and @Swaggasaurusposition. Wish I knew for sure. If he hits, its totally worth it as he'll be at his peak right aound the time we are making a playoff run. 

Like I said, I dont hate it. Im just risk averse. 

Edited 12 hours ago by Panthero

[Panthero]

21 minutes ago, csx said:

The age thing never made much sense to me. Especially going forward thinking will need to change.

It matters a lot less when players seek free agency (and the league doesnt get in the way)as often as possible. That allows more sorting for talent needs across the league. The right players get to the right team and so forth.

[jb2288]

6 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

Round 4, No. 119 Zakee Wheatley, S, Penn State

Round 5 Taylen Green, QB,Arkansas

Round 5, No. 161 AaronAnderson, WR, LSU

Round 6, No. 199 Ephesians Prysock, CB, Washington

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7036640/2026/02/11/panthers-mock-draft-defense-edge-rusher/

Taylen Green??? wtf joe

[PanthersNCSU]

Don't like taking a 1st rounder that's that old. Basically get one contract out of him after the 5th year option and that's about it. 

Like Anthony Hill, but doubt he's there. 

Taylen Green is becoming the QB I want. 

Ephesians Prysock sounds like a Key and Peele name, so, sure. 

[OldhamA]

10 hours ago, csx said:

Mesidor had more sacks, more tackles, more tackles for loss, more forced fumbles while playing 1 less game. 

Its a team sport. They benefited from each other.

Id prefer an OT or top inside linebacker but Mesidor is no slouch

Teams doubled (and sometimes tripled with a chip) Bain on almost every down, which left Mesidor singled up all the time.

He's a really good player and if he's there in the 2nd round you take the shot. He's just not a first rounder at 25 years old with his injury history.

Stats are fun, but if you watch the games you'll see who teams were game planning against. When they left Bain isolated he wrecked games.

[PleaseCutStewart]

Like Mesidor, Hill, and Wheatley, but would like to see a trade down at 19 (to like 25ish) if we take Mesidor and am not sure Hill is there at 51

[PleaseCutStewart]

23 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

Teams doubled (and sometimes tripled with a chip) Bain on almost every down, which left Mesidor singled up all the time.

He's a really good player and if he's there in the 2nd round you take the shot. He's just not a first rounder at 25 years old with his injury history.

Stats are fun, but if you watch the games you'll see who teams were game planning against. When they left Bain isolated he wrecked games.

While I agree Bain got a lot of the double teams this year, Mesidor actually faced a ton of double teams in 2024 (along with Bain when healthy) and still had pretty good stats. The much better DT play Miami had in 2025 helped limit the number of double teams Mesidor faced.

I actually think Mesidor has one of the best combos of speed + technique among edge rushers in the class (probably behind Bain & Bailey). Run defense might be a problem for him and he is not good in coverage (aka he needs to be strictly rushing the passer/playing the run every down he is on the field).

Jarred Verse was old also (24 at the start of his rookie year), so I hope we aren't using age as a big knock on his draft rank. We could still get 5 years out of him before he hits his 2nd contract and then move on if he gets pricy his age 29/30 season.

Medicals definitely need to be looked at closely for him, though he has stayed healthy the last 2 seasons.

[ForJimmy]

I don't know much about the first round guy, but I'd love Hill, Green should be a nice developmental project QB, throw in a fast safety and massive OT that can eventually replace Moton and I'd be pretty happy with that.

[shaqattaq]

16 hours ago, Swaggasaurus said:

I’m of the school of thought that we need an instant starter. He’d start instantly, needs no physical changes, already refined technique and plays the run and pass at high level. You’ve got young Princely developing, and really Scourton too. We need a PLAY NOW edge. It’s hard to sign a free agent worth a damn at edge, aged 25 or 30, lord knows we’ve tried.

and Hell, we lock him in for 5 years on a rookie contract and let him test the market at 31. Plenty of productive edge rushers still getting it done at that age.