PFF Picks Best Fit for Panthers on Day 3 of 2024 NFL Draft

Can the Panthers find the center of the future on day three?

Jackson Powers-Johnson (Oregon), Zach Frazier (West Virginia), and Sedrick Van Pran (Georgia) are all center prospects that have been linked to the Carolina Panthers in mock drafts over the last several months. 

One name that doesn’t get mentioned nearly as often is Penn State’s Hunter Nourzad. The former Cornell right tackle has developed into a rock solid center prospect over the past two seasons and some change and is listed as the Panthers’ best fit for day three of the 2024 NFL Draft by Gordon McGuinness.

“Nourzad had a rough outing against Ohio State in the middle of the 2023 season, earning a poor 33.5 PFF grade, but closed out the year with six straight 69.0-plus PFF game grades.”

Nourzad is projected to go in the fourth round by Lance Zierlein of NFL Network and compares him to Juice Scruggs of the Houston Texans.

“Broad and powerful with thick hips and adequate length for the position. The Cornell transfer not only possesses NFL-caliber core strength, technique and body control, he also had quality performances against his toughest Big Ten competition. Nourzad has the feel and footwork for all run-blocking schemes and is strong enough to deal with a 0-technique lined up over him. While he’s strong on impact, he needs to be careful about playing too far out over his skis in order to keep from whiffing. His punch and anchor are where they need to be, but the Ohio State game showed he has work to do with twist recognition and response. Nourzad has early starter ability at center.”