Re-Drafting the Panthers 2015 Draft Class

RD 1, Pick 25

Original Pick: LB Shaq Thompson

New Pick: S Landon Collins

Analysis: Don't get me wrong, I love the Shaq Thompson pick and believe it has worked out extremely well for the Panthers. He really paired up well with Luke Kuechly and was able to learn a lot from him. Now, he'll be taking over as "the guy" of the linebacking corps.

Despite Thompson's success, it's hard to not want to take a quality secondary guy like Landon Collins. The Panthers had Charles Tillman and Josh Norman at corner, but needed a boost at safety. Roman Harper was getting older and Tre Boston hadn't proven himself yet. Landon Collins has quickly become one of the better, young safeties in the game. Through five seasons, he has recorded 554 tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 36 pass breakups, and eight interceptions. Adding him to that 2015 defense would have been stout.

RD 2, Pick 41

Original Pick: WR Devin Funchess

New Pick: LB Eric Kendricks

Analysis: When you're the 41st pick in the draft, you would expect that said player to become somewhat of a star, in some form or fashion. Funchess was far from that and never really put it all together in Carolina. Since we passed on Shaq Thompson in round one, I'm going Eric Kendricks here in the second.

Kendricks has been a solid linebacker for the Vikings and has lived up to his second round selection. He's not a star player by any means, but Kendricks would have helped the Panthers much more than Funchess over the last five seasons.

RD 4, Pick 102

Original Pick: OL Daryl Williams

New Pick: No change

Analysis: Williams quickly became the better option for the Panthers over Mike Remmers and lived up to the billing. Is he a franchise offensive tackle? No, but most fourth round picks aren't. He played with consistency and played like a fourth round pick normally does. He wasn't great, but wasn't terrible either. He just had some injury issues that kept him off the field a considerable amount.

RD 5, Pick 169

Original Pick: LB David Mayo

New Pick: TE Darren Waller

Analysis: Despite coming off of a 1,000-yard season with the Raiders, I don't believe Waller's position in a redraft would change more than just one round. There's still a lot of unknowns about his game and whether or not he will sustain this level of success. His first three years in the league were pretty rough. The most catches he had in a season prior to 2019 was 10. Pairing Waller up with Greg Olsen and Ed Dickson would have done a lot for him and possibly sped up his development, learning from one of the best tight ends in the game.

RD 5, Pick 174

Original Pick: RB Cameron Artis-Payne

New Pick: DT Darius Philon

Analysis: Cam Artis-Payne never became the guy the Panthers thought he would by playing alongside Jonathan Stewart. I never really liked Artis-Payne coming out of college nor did I like any of the mid-late round backs in the 2015 draft. Darius Philon would be a good rotational guy that could provide depth on the Panthers defensive line. He can play both on the edge and interior, which would have been very beneficial.

What do you think of our Panthers 2015 re-draft? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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