Carolina Panthers: 2009 NFL Draft do-over (6 Rounds)

Carolina Panthers 2009 Draft: T.J. Lang over Corvey Irvin (No. 93)

The Carolina Panthers needed help on the defensive line, especially the interior. They decided to select Corvey Irvin, a defensive tackle with enormous promise out of Georgia.

Irvin never started a game in his entire career. He only spent one season in Carolina, playing two games totaling four tackles and one tackle for loss.

He bounced around the league playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Dallas Cowboys. But Irvin never recorded a single sack in his career and only had 14 tackles. After four seasons he was never signed to another roster and was on the proverbial scrapheap aged 28.

The Panthers could have solidified their offensive line with this pick. The player they should have taken was T.J. Lang out of Eastern Michigan, who was taken No. 109 overall by the Green Bay Packers.

He didn’t play much in his first two seasons. But after that, Lang became a big part of the Packers’ offensive line. The imposing figure started all but five games over his next six seasons with the organization. And he made the Pro Bowl in 2016 despite missing three contests.

Lang would leave Green Bay and go on to play for the Detroit Lions in 2016. He made the Pro Bowl in his first campaign with the NFC North rival and eventually retired following the 2019 campaign.

If the Panthers would have drafted Lang instead of Irvin they would have had one of the best offensive lines in the league for a long time. They would have had Jordan Gross, Max Unger, Ryan Khalil, and Lang in this particular scenario.