4 needs the Carolina Panthers must fill during the 2023 NFL Draft

Carolina Panthers must draft an edge rusher

Last offseason, the Carolina Panthers took a gamble by letting productive pass rusher Hasson Reddick walk in free agency and go forward with the group of Yetur Gross-Matos, Marquis Haynes Sr., Henry Anderson, and Amare Barno opposite Brian Burns.

The result? Reddick signs with the Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $45 million contract and finishes second in the NFL with 16.5 sacks. Carolina’s aforementioned group finished with 9.5 sacks combined as Burns himself racked up 12.5 on the year.

It was an underwhelming and disappointing result for the Panthers, whose gamble failed spectacularly. This leaves them with a serious edge need this offseason.

Thankfully, this is a draft class that features a bevy of talent at the position. The group is headlined by Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr, a favorite to be the first player selected in the upcoming draft.

Clemson’s Myles Murphy and Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson are potential first-round options for the Panthers should they target the position early. Both players are terrific athletes who offer plenty of upside as future No. 1 or No. 2 pass rushers.

The best spot for the Panthers to select a pass-rusher could be rounds two and three. In this scenario, they could find themselves targeting underrated players such as Auburn’s Derick Hall, TCU’s Dylan Horton, and Appalachian State’s Nick Hampton.

There are plenty of options to choose from in this group. It’s a position general manager Scott Fitterer should seriously consider targeting via the draft considering how expensive productive defensive ends are on the free-agent market.