The Panthers’ Defensive Rebirth: Explosive LB Pick Ignites Carolina’s Pass Rush

There are quite a few targets for the Carolina Panthers in the 2025 NFL Mock Draft. Picking eighth means someone they like is probably going to be there. However, these players are all highly-touted prospects, which means other teams will also be in on them.

Mason Graham, Tetairoa McMillan, Will Johnson, and Abdul Carter have all been mocked relentlessly to Carolina at times. What happens if all of them and more are gone by the time the Panthers pick? They’ll have to settle (although he is still a great prospect) for someone else: Jalon Walker.

Panthers snag Jalon Walker after tons of targets come off the board

In Sports Illustrated’s latest NFL mock draft, Abdul Carter (second to Cleveland), Tetairoa McMillan (fourth to New England), Will Johnson (sixth to Las Vegas), and Mason Graham (seventh to New York) are all off the board by Carolina’s pick. Travis Hunter slips to five, but there’s no reality where the Panthers can pick him.

That leaves them to choose from Jalon Walker, Luther Burden, Mykel Williams, and Malaki Starks. In this mock, they go with Walker. “The Panthers need to accumulate game-wreckers on defense. They finished last in the league in both run defense and points allowed this season, and they were tied for third worst with 32 sacks,” Daniel Flick said. “Walker, an explosive chess piece who has the speed to run sideline-to-sideline and the quickness to routinely win pass-rushing reps, can elevate Carolina’s defense on multiple levels. He tallied 60 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2024.”

Flick is spot-on that the Panthers need game-wreckers. A dominant linebacker in the middle was missing last year. The only issue here is if the Panthers sign Zack Baun as they’ve been predicted to multiple times.

If they do, they’d have a linebacker core of Trevin Wallace, Josey Jewell, Walker, and Baun. That’s too many since Ejiro Evero’s system only uses two inside linebackers. This is also assuming Shaq Thompson doesn’t convince the Panthers to re-sign him.

Free agency begins before the draft, so Baun may already be in town by then. That would presumably push them out of the market for Walker, which means that wide receiver Burden might be the pick. That would once again be nightmarish since the defense needs so much help, but all the impact players they could get are either gone or not worth the eighth pick.