Panthers S Zakee Wheatley: No. 19 Player Could Be Key to Carolina’s Defense

The Panthers have a made a lot of progress since that 2-15 campaign in 2023. There’s a rookie safety who could push a veteran for a starting job in 2026.

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) catches a pass in front of Penn State Nittany Lions safety Zakee Wheatley (6) during the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Nov. 1, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Today begins the start of mandatory minicamp for the defending NFC South champions. The Carolina Panthers will gather for the next three days and get in some more work in preparation for their 32nd season in the league.

The team comes off an 8-9 campaign, which was good enough to win a division title and make a playoff appearance for the first time since 2017. However, a 34-31 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild card round means the franchise still hasn’t won a postseason contest since the 2015 NFC title game.

Carolina Panthers On SI colleague Zach Roberts ranked the Top 25 most important players on Dave Canales’s team. At the top of the list was quarterback Bryce Young, followed by high ticket free-agent signing Jaelan Phillips (who hopes to solve the team’s pass-rushing issues, and then 2025 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan at No. 3.

There are a few training camp battles looming for Dave Canales’s team

Panthers select SAF Zakee Wheatley from Penn State.

6-3, 203

74 tackles, 2 TFLs, INT, PBU in 2025
pic.twitter.com/v9IbqdXaJn

— John Ellis (@1PantherPlace) April 25, 2026

There are numerous clashes for starting jobs and/or key roles on Roberts’s list. At No. 19, there figures to be a key battle at safety between veteran Nick Scott and 2026 fifth-round draft choice Zakee Wheatley. Scott was re-signed to a one-year contract this year, but he will face strong competition from the former Nittany Lions.

General manager Dan Morgan made Wheatley the second of two fifth-round picks on Day 3 of the draft. During his five-year stay in Happy Valley, he showed a nose for the football. During his first season with the team, he played in only four games and totaled just two tackles. In fact, during his first three years with the club, he racked up just 36 tackles in 30 contests, although he picked off two passes and forced a fumble in 2022.

Opportunistic rookie S Zakee Wheatley bears watching

Wheatley’s production during his final collegiate seasons changed dramatically. He totaled 96 and 74 tackles, respectively, in 2024 and 2025. There were also a combined four interceptions, three fumble recoveries, five passes defensed, one sack, and a forced fumble.

Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

This past season, Scott finished second on the team with a career-high 109 defensive stops. However, he managed just one fumble recovery and picked off just one pass in 17 starts. Granted, that interception was an end zone theft of Matthew Stafford in Carolina’s 31-28 upset of the Rams in Week 13. In fact, in 27 games (21 starts) for the Panthers dating back to 2024, he has totaled only the two aforementioned takeaways.

Panthers’ defense must continue its recent improvement

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

This season, Carolina’s defense has an opportunity to take it to the next level just two years after giving up the most total yards in the league, as well as the most points in a single season in NFL history.

The opportunistic Wheatley could be the perfect solution for the back end of an up-and-coming defensive unit that received solid contributions this past season from strong safety Tre’von Moehrig and rookie pass rusher Nic Scourton—both newcomers to the team in 2025.