3 primary wishes for the Carolina Panthers 2023 offseason

Carolina Panthers draft a player from Clemson

This one is personal and long overdue.

In the almost 30 years that the Carolina Panthers have been a franchise, they’ve never once drafted a player from my alma mater, Clemson University. Yes, the same program that hosted the team’s home games during their inaugural 1995 season.

This marked the first time that the state of South Carolina was home to a major professional sports team. To this day, it is pretty much the only link between the Panthers and Clemson’s prolific program.

There are quite a few defensive players in this draft from Clemson that could fill significant needs for the Panthers, including first-round talents such as Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy on the defensive line.

Trenton Simpson at linebacker is another potential option depending on where he’s projected, which could be anywhere from the mid-first round to the early second depending on which mock draft you read. This has been a major flaw in Carolina since the great Luke Kuechly retired and is something that needs to be resolved during the offseason.

In later rounds, it would be wise for the Panthers to take a gander at pass-rusher K.J. Henry, who hails from Winston-Salem.

Clemson is hands-down the best football school in the Carolinas and has consistently produced elite NFL talent over the past decade that rivals powerhouses like Alabama and Ohio State. The time is now for the Panthers to bring one of those young, bright prospects home.