The Panthers selected NC State offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu with the No. 6 pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night, but there were several scenarios in play for the Panthers with their pick, sources told MMQB’s Albert Breer.
Carolina reportedly had Mississippi State’s Charles Cross, NC State’s Ekwonu and Alabama’s Evan Neal as the top three offensive tackles on the draft board. The Panthers had two tackles above the third in their order of preference.
The plan was if one of the top two offensive tackles fell to Carolina at No. 6, the Panthers take him.
If the third tackle was on the board and the other two were gone, the Panthers would have been comfortable taking him, but the team would have also considered trading down.
In the final scenario, one where all three tackles were gone, Carolina would have considered trading down or taking a quarterback at No. 6.
The Panthers were not expecting all three tackles to be available to them when they picked at six, so they got to take the offensive tackle that was highest on their board, Ekwonu.
The Panthers stayed patient, waiting until the third round when they traded with the Patriots to move up to No. 94 to select Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral.
With Carolina’s patient approach, the franchise ended up with the highest-rated tackle on their draft board and a quarterback that they coveted with a value pick towards the end of the third-round in Corral.
More NFL Coverage:
For more Carolina Panthers coverage, go to All Panthers.
