The first round of the NFL Draft is less than a week away, and at the moment, the middling Carolina Panthers are still searching for a franchise quarterback. Although they committed to Sam Darnold's fifth-year option upon trading for him last year, he hasn't officially been named the 2022 starter. And his future with the team is certainly in question, as Carolina joined the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes just a month ago.
With the sixth-overall pick in the 2022 draft, the Panthers could address their quandary by selecting a top quarterback prospect, such as Pittsburgh leader Kenny Pickett, Liberty playmaker Malik Willis, or Ole Miss passer Matt Corral. Carolina has endured consecutive five-win seasons under coach Matt Rhule, and he might not be given the luxury of time to develop another signal-caller. So, which direction will the team go? Will they take a quarterback at No. 6?
"I'd be shocked -- they're not taking one at No. 6. They may trade down and get one, but I'd be shocked if they take one at No. 6," Pro Football Network draft analyst Tony Pauline told The Zach Gelb Show on Friday. "Pickett would be a massive reach at No. 6 -- just a huge reach. Maybe it's something that Rhule needs, because he has to have a quarterback who can play right away. And Pickett's the most NFL-ready of a very mediocre group of quarterbacks.
"Willis, if you draft him that early and expect him to play in the first week of the season, you could ruin Willis. He's got tremendous upside, but he needs a lot of work on his game. And with Willis, you have to feed him slowly into the NFL lineup, and Matt Rhule just doesn't have that much time... If [offensive tackle] Charles Cross is there, he's going to go in that direction... There's going to be interesting conversations in that war room."
The entire draft conversation between Pauline and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
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