Schuyler Callihan's Carolina Panthers Seven-Round Mock Draft 5.0

Each Sunday, I'll be releasing a new Carolina Panthers seven-round mock draft. From now up until the first Sunday of April, I will not be projecting any trades.

RD 1, Pick 8: QB Trey Lance (North Dakota State)

Although I could see Justin Fields sliding all the way down to No. 8, I'm beginning to think it's more likely that he goes in the top three or four picks. Trey Lance will be the best quarterback option available for the Panthers if they choose to stay put at No. 8. He's not going to make an immediate impact and will likely need to sit and learn for a while as he adjusts to the NFL game. Not to mention, he only played one game this past fall due to the pandemic, so it's going to take him some time to get to where he wants to be.

RD 2, Pick 39: OT Alex Leatherwood (Alabama)

Leatherwood is a very athletic tackle that can get to the second level of the defense rather quickly. He does a great job of identifying who is coming on the blitz and who is dropping into coverage. Getting any sort of a pass rush on him seemed impossible for a lot of teams. Leatherwood has great balance, footwork, and stands defenders straight up to where they have a severe lack of movement. If there is any one flaw in his game, I would say it's consistency. His production isn't hit or miss from play to play but there's a lot of plays where I think he could do more. Maybe he was getting bored of dominating the guy lined up across from him?

RD 3, Pick 73: LB Chazz Surratt (North Carolina)

Coming into the draft, he's not the biggest guy in the world but adding on weight should not be much of a problem. Playing the MIKE could be in his future considering that he's done it before and it would allow him to be the quarterback of the defense seeing everything from the middle of the field. With that said, I think right away he fits more in at the SAM spot where he could also play a little safety. His coverage skills are well above average and he's got the speed to run with some of the best receivers out there.

RD 4, Pick 113: OL David Moore (Grambling)

This guy right here could be the sleeper of the draft. Matt Rhule and the Panthers coaching staff worked with him at the Reese's Senior Bowl and liked what they saw from him. At 6'1", 350 lbs, Moore will almost certainly line up at guard, but could also get a look at center. He's going to be a bit of a project and won't have much of an impact early in his career.

RD 5, Pick 151: DL Marvin Wilson (Florida State)

Some draft experts actually had a first-round grade on Wilson prior to suffering from a season-ending leg injury. In his sophomore and junior seasons combined, Wilson tallied 85 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble. This man was an absolute wrecking machine prior to his injury. It might be a risk to take him but doing so in the 4th round seems pretty safe to me. This will give Carolina a replacement for Kawann Short and could create the next dominant tandem with Wilson and Derrick Brown.

RD 6, Pick 192: WR Shi Smith (South Carolina)

The Panthers may need to find a cheap replacement for Curtis Samuel and by getting a receiver late in the draft, you check both boxes. Shi Smith is an explosive receiver that can do just about a little bit of everything. Unfortunately, he never got to fully showcase his skills due to the poor quarterback play he had during his time at South Carolina.

RD 6, Pick 220: CB Tre Norwood (Oklahoma)

More familiarity here for Matt Rhule as he coached against Norwood in the Big 12 Conference during his time at Baylor. Aside from that, I think Norwood should be graded much higher than he is. He steadily improved year after year and it still feels like his best football is ahead of him. Norwood has great hands, anticipation, and rarely gets beat in man-to-man matchups down the field.

RD 6, Pick 224: TE Cary Angeline (North Carolina State)

Carolina may add to the tight end room via free agency but looking in the back half of the draft may not be such a bad idea either. Angeline is a big target (6'7", 250 lbs) that can both block and be a weapon in the intermediate passing game. For his size, he runs pretty well and could immediately become the Panthers' best receiving option at tight end.

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