Panthers draft pulse: the case for wide receiver
Should the Panthers spend their third consecutive first round pick at WR?
It’s draft week!
The Carolina Panthers spent a lot of money in March again on the defensive side of the ball while addressing other needs on offense.
So what will they do with the 19th selection?
Will they join the Detroit Lions as the only teams to select a wide receiver in the first round of the draft in three consecutive years?
"I think with anything, we're going to take the best player,” Dan Morgan said at his pre-draft press conference last week. “So if the best player we feel is that at 19, I wouldn't hesitate to draft another wideout. I don't think there's a rule that says you can't draft a wide receiver three years in a row. So I'm not really going to box us in and say we're not going to draft him."
Drafting a wide receiver three years in a row in the first round seems ludicrous on the surface. However, if you dig a bit deeper you can understand why the Panthers would consider the possibility.
Morgan has repeatedly talked about adding playmakers to the team. In 2024, the Panthers ranked dead last in the league in yards after the catch (YAC) with 1,426 per FTN’s Stats Hub.
In 2025, they were 26th with 1,629 YAC.
The Panthers top two YAC leaders were Rico Dowdle (350 yards) and Chuba Hubbard (291.) In fact, the Panthers haven’t had a wide receiver lead the team in YAC since 2023.
Dowdle is now in Pittsburgh and the Panthers only addition to the wide receiver room in free agency was John Metchie.
The crux of the argument for drafting a wide receiver for a third consecutive year circles back to the selection of Xavier Legette in 2024.
Legette caught 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie campaign.
Those numbers dipped to 35 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. He also had a horrendous start to the season, as he was ejected from the Panthers first preseason game for fighting. Then he accumulated a stat line of four catches on 15 targets for eight yards in the first two games of the season.
In 31 games, Legette has had 60 or more receiving yards just three times. He has yet to record a 100 yard receiving game.
The 32nd overall pick from the 2024 NFL Draft has been outplayed by his undrafted counterpart Jalen Coker.
Tetairoa McMillan was everything the Panthers could hope for as the No. 8 overall pick in 2025. The offensive rookie of the year was the focal point of the Panthers passing offense where he turned 122 targets into 70 catches, 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns.
McMillan and Coker give the Panthers a solid nucleus but they need more explosiveness.
Legette was a late bloomer in college and it’s possible that the light turns on for him in his third season.
But it should surprise nobody if the Panthers decide to go with another wide receiver in the first round come Thursday night.