Carolina Panthers: ESPN predicts No. 1 overall pick in 2021 NFL Draft

ESPN’s Football Outsiders predict the Carolina Panthers will be an abysmal team this upcoming season. They also predict the Panthers will have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second, shall we? The Carolina Panthers, after a productive offseason that saw them begin a complete rebuild to put the team back on track in the future, have one of the worst seasons in franchise history. They’re a hot mess on offense, can’t stop anyone on defense, and new head coach Matt Rhule sees that life is not better in the pros compared to all the success he had in college.

The Panthers produce another losing season and have just a few wins to account for. They end up being so bad, they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and are in a prime position to draft their future franchise quarterback. Of course, this is all a prediction but with the unpredictability of the NFL, anything can and will happen, even if it seems too far fetched right now.

This is what ESPN’s Football Outsiders have predicted will be the ultimate fate of the Panthers. That regardless of all their free agency moves and a complete focus on defense in the 2020 NFL Draft, it will not equal to many wins. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not hard to argue as many major outlets also share similar thoughts.

ESPN predicts the Carolina Panthers will have the No. 1 overall pick in 2021 NFL Draft

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From Sports Illustrated to even yours truly, we all predict that the Panthers will likely fall within that 2-7 wins range for the upcoming season. There is no guarantee that all these offseason additions will work out when it matters most or if key players can stay healthy all season long.

Aaron Schatz of ESPN’s Football Outsiders (paid subscription required) published an incredible article that breaks down next year’s draft projections as he has the Panthers penciled in with the No. 1 overall pick. At any rate, for a team that knows full well that they’ll be some growing pains as they rebuild now for a brighter future, having the No. 1 overall pick can only help the cause.

It’s hard to root for your favorite team to lose horribly in order to secure a high draft pick but the truth of the matter is that on paper, the Panthers look like a slightly better team than what we saw last year. Reality, however, could be a whole different story when they start playing football games that count and things don’t go as envisioned.

Overall, there’s still a full slate of football games to be played and if anything, this would be great bulletin board material to put for the Panthers all season long. So many naysayers could be proven wrong if Rhule can get his new team ready for the task at hand. Football experts, however, all believe that the Panthers will be on the outside looking in the New Orleans Saints on top of the NFC South all season long.