With Super Bowl LIX now (painfully) in the books, mock draft season has kicked into full gear.
So, who do the experts think the Carolina Panthers could, should and/or would take with the eighth overall pick?
Here’s a super-sized post-Super Bowl edition of our mock draft roundup . . .
Pick: Shemar Stewart, DL, Texas A&M
Author: Jeff Risdon
Take: One of the Senior Bowl’s biggest winners, Stewart offers a rare blend of size, strength and speed that can play anywhere outside the 3-tech. He’s a very different kind of pass rusher for a Panthers defense that can use all the help they can get.
Pick: Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
Author: Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz
Take: A defense devoid of playmakers requires substantial reinforcements to provide proper backing for Bryce Young entering a critical year of the quarterback’s development. Coordinator Ejiro Evero should be up to the task of maximizing Walker’s disruptiveness as both a pass rusher and off-ball defender.