One Panthers Draft Scenario No One is Talking About

Two firsts for the Panthers? It just might happen.

Many expect the Carolina Panthers to trade up into the top-five of the 2023 NFL Draft to select a quarterback. Whether that be going all the way up to No. 1 to take Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud or up to No. 3 or 5 to take Will Levis or perhaps Anthony Richardson.

The tricky thing about Richardson is no one really knows where he will go. Some teams could view him as the No. 1 player on the board because of his extremely high potential, while some may view him as a mid-late first round pick due to his inconsistent play at Florida. 

The one option that I haven't seen much talk about is Carolina staying put at No. 9, but then trading back into the back half of the first round to make a second selection. General manager Scott Fitterer nonchalantly inserted this possibility during his media availability earlier in the week.

"We'll see if we can get in a position where we can get one of the guys we like. Is there a guy there in the second round? Can we get up in the first round? Those are all the things we're exploring right now."

My first thought is, maybe there is some level of interest to take some of those day two picks and move into the mid-late 20s to select Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. There's a chance Richardson could slide that far down, but it's hard to believe that he would fall out of the top-10, much less the top-20.

Some believe that Hooker was the best quarterback in college football this past season before he suffered a torn ACL that ended his season. In his two years as the Vols' starting QB, Hooker threw for 6,080 yards and 58 touchdowns to just five interceptions.

In addition to his knee injury, the other thing that will turn off some NFL teams from Hooker is his age. He just turned 25 in January and for most clubs, they would prefer a rookie QB to be in his early 20s. But for Carolina, it may be more ideal for them to have an older rookie who is experienced and played a lot of ball. He would be playing under his rookie contract during the time most NFL quarterbacks hit their prime years in their late 20s.

In this scenario, not only would you get a quarterback in the first round, but also a potential star at No. 9, be it a receiver, tight end, pass rusher or what have you.

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