Panthers’ draft needs are a result of missteps in 2019. Understanding how we got here

Going into the 2019 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers’ needed help on the offensive line, at safety, edge, wide receiver and linebacker.

The Panthers attempted to address those holes with seven draft picks and fewer than two years later, five of those selections are still on the roster. Only one, Brian Burns, has spent consistent time as a starter.

With the 2021 NFL draft two months away, the Panthers, with a different head coach and general manager, are searching for answers at most of those same positions while trying simultaneously to address many other holes and complete a rebuild. The 2021 needs? Offensive line, safety, wide receiver and linebacker make the list heading into free agency.

It’s easier to look back and wonder what could have been done differently than to predict the future. Injuries, changes in scheme and some uncontrollable factors are hard to account for. But after a season during which two of the Panthers’ three top 2019 picks sat while other backups replaced starting players ahead of them, it’s worth looking at what could have been done differently.

Round 1, Pick 16 — DE/EDGE Brian Burns

Grade: A+

Should someone have been picked instead? No. This was the right selection.

This pick has aged well. Burns has transformed into one of the best players on the Panthers defense and an emerging leader. Originally drafted to fit Carolina’s new 3-4 scheme, he had a hot start to his rookie season under Ron Rivera, but was hampered by a wrist injury in the second half of the year.

Burns put up a strong sophomore season coming off the edge, but also being used in multiple ways in Phil Snow’s defense. He finished with a team-high nine sacks and 21 quarterback hits in 15 games. Without Burns on the defensive line, the unit would have struggled even more than it did at times. When the group was facing not having him for a Week 16 game vs. Washington due to injury, Carolina had to prepare not to use multiple packages without him on the field.

“He’s a dynamic guy and we use him in a lot of different roles. So (his availability) affects what personnel groups we use and so it kind of limits what we can do,” Snow said in December. “The package won’t be as full as it normally is because of his versatility and then obviously he makes big plays at big times, so we’ll miss that.”

The ceiling is high for Burns. Like many of former general manager Marty Hurney’s first-round picks, selecting Burns has aged well.

Round 2, Pick 37 — LT Greg Little

Grade: C -

Should someone have been picked instead? With what was given up in the trade? Yes.

Who stands out that was available? OL Cody Ford, OL Dalton Risner, WR DK Metcalf, WR A.J. Brown, WR Terry McLaurin

It would be easy to grade the Little pick much lower. The list of available players here is only a sampling of the players that could have been taken instead. Not among the list is a pure left tackle, like Little, which is part of why he was selected. Unfortunately for the Panthers and Little, injuries played a significant role in his rookie year, and he played in just four games.

With a new staff in place his second season, Little played occasionally behind starting left tackle Russell Okung. The veteran was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers for Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner, in a trade that largely hasn’t aged well for either side due to both players’ injuries.

Little was a healthy scratch for multiple games in 2020 despite Okung’s health, and watched as free agent Trent Scott and fellow 2019 draft pick Dennis Daley played ahead of him.

The other offensive linemen the Panthers could have drafted are versatile and wouldn’t necessarily play left tackle in Carolina, but the Panthers have lacked sufficient depth at tackle in general. Ford, who was selected one pick after Little by the Buffalo Bills, would likely have been a better pick.

Hurney gave up the 47th and 77th picks in the draft to trade up to get Little, who ended his second season on injured reserve. There’s still time for him to move in the right direction, but a left tackle of the future remains a significant need, as it was in 2019.

Round 3, Pick 100 — QB Will Grier

Grade: D

Should someone have been picked instead? Yes.

Who stands out that was available? QB Gardner Minshew, LB Drue Tranquill, S Donovan WIlson, S Khari Willis

This selection has arguably aged the worst of the Panthers’ 2019 draft picks, and that’s without getting into who would have been available had the Panthers retained the two picks given up in the Little trade. Grier is the only quarterback drafted by the Panthers since Cam Newton in 2011. It was time, but was this the best fit?

Despite opportunities in both 2019 and 2020 to win the backup job, Grier has largely remained the third-string quarterback. For someone in whom the team invested so highly, the lack of playing time despite multiple injuries to the starting quarterbacks is not a positive sign for how two different coaching staffs have felt about him.

Grier had the chance to start the last two games of the 2019 season, but it did not go well for a variety of reasons, some of which were outside of his control.

He did admit in 2020 that he could have performed better in his rookie year and that he had needed to learn how to be a backup. But this past season, P.J. Walker was given multiple backup opportunities over Grier. Teddy Bridgewater was signed to the quarterback room after Cam Newton, and now the Panthers are looking for a quarterback yet again.