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2025 NFL draft: Panthers skip final workout for Jalon Walker, Mykel Williams

There’s less than a week before this year’s NFL draft at Lambeau Field. The evaluation process is winding down for the defensive-needy Carolina Panthers
Russell Baxter|
Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

At this stage of the game, it would be a major shock if Carolina Panthers’ general manager Dan Morgan and the organization did not use the eighth overall pick in next week’s draft on an edge rusher. When it comes to the worst defense in the league in 2024, improving this aspect of coordinator Ejiro Evero’s unit is a major priority.

This past season, only the New England Patriots (28) and Atlanta Falcons (31) totaled fewer sacks than Dave Canales’s club (32). Add in the fact that in the previous year the Panthers were dead last in the NFL in quarterback traps (27) and this is a defense screaming for help in this area. Carolina’s 59 sacks in their last 34 games are four less than the Denver Broncos (63) managed in 2024.

Coincidentally, the most “mocked” names out there in terms of the football analysts when it comes to the Panthers are 2024 Butkus Award winner Jalon Walker and more recently, Mykel Williams. Morgan has obviously done his homework, and seen what he has seen from these two prospects.

The Panthers did address the pass rush in free agency with the signing of former Minnesota Vikings’ reserve Patrick Jones II. He comes off a career campaign in which he totaled seven sacks. That’s obviously more than veterans Jadeveon Clowney and A’Shawn Robinson, who led Carolina with 5.5 sacks this past season.

Walker comes off a season in which he totaled career highs in tackles (60) and sacks (6.5). He also knocked down two passes and recovered a pair of fumbles. That lack of a pass rush was a big reason the Panthers, who set a dubious NFL record by allowing 534 points, surrendered an NFL-high 35 touchdown passes.

With nine picks in this year’s draft, Morgan can add a lot of youth and talent to that defense. You get the sense he has settled in on his first-round pick, unless someone beats him to the punch.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.