Carolina Panthers Finally Grab a Weapon in Chris Brazzell With Major Question Mark

The Carolina Panthers have finally, after passing on so many earlier in the draft, taken a pass-catcher. With the 83rd pick, the Panthers picked Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II. He's a speedster, but he's also incredibly tall.

Chris Brazzell more of an over-the-top guy than a yards-after-catch. But he's big (6-4, 198) and can fly (4.37 40).
His addition likely keeps Jalen Coker in the slot.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) April 25, 2026

Ordinarily, that wouldn't matter, but Carolina's depth chart is full of big-bodied wide receivers. Assuming Xavier Legette sticks around, the top four wideouts in Carolina now are all 6'3" or taller. That's a bit of overkill.

However, it's good the Panthers did add a wide receiver. It was a glaring hole after Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, and this gives them a quality target to help them move on from Legette, who's been a bust so far.

Brazzell also adds a speed element that the Panthers were hoping to get with Legette. Legette ran a 4.39 40-yard dash, while Brazzell just clipped him at 4.37. He is essentially a one-to-one replacement for Legette, which is a good thing, even if a different archetype would've been better.

The Panthers don't need a ton of production to be their WR3 behind McMillan and Coker, who will now be able to operate much more out of the slot. They also don't need much production to be better than Legette, whose days are all but numbered in Carolina. He may be traded soon.

Who the Panthers could've drafted at WR instead of Chris Brazzell

Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (17) yells in celebration after scoring a touchdown | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chris Brazzell will join a massive Panthers' WR room. They're going to have a lot of tall players to throw to down in the red zone this year. At various stages, though, the Panthers could've had a ton of different options.

Makai Lemon, Omar Cooper Jr., and KC Concepcion were all available when the Panthers took Monroe Freeling. When the Panthers took Lee Hunter, Antonio Williams and Zachariah Branch were available.

And when the Panthers finally acquiesced and gave their QB another weapon, they could've drafted:

Ted Hurst
Skyler Bell
Deion Burks
Kevin Coleman Jr.

They are all very different archetypes and smaller than Brazzell. That would've differentiated the offense a bit, but we are glad to see the Panthers finally get Bryce Young another weapon. He needed at least one more target on offense.

They also have ignored the tight end spot, where a big body would make more sense. There's still time, but the Panthers opted not to go after Eli Stowers, Max Klare, and Justin Joly in the second and third rounds.

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