As the Carolina Panthers begin their second week of the preseason, the vision of what their roster will look like in a month is coming into clearer focus. However, some of the talk continues to center around last Thursday's incredible Pro Football Hall of Fame game.
In the walk-off victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the offensive playmakers were in the limelight while the defense didn't receive as much fanfare after allowing 30 points. Even so, there were a handful of standouts who raised eyebrows in their first taste of NFL action.
One of those was first-year safety Zakee Wheatley, who is currently listed as Tre'von Moehrig's backup on the Panthers' unofficial depth chart. With a team-leading eight tackles, the rookie fifth-round pick made his presence known.
Zakee Wheatley left a positive impression in Carolina Panthers' preseason opener
As a Day 3 draft selection such as Wheatley, you want to make an impact as often as possible, especially in a game setting. That way, coaches will see the work you've put in during such a short summer, without a true offseason to prepare, which potentially leads to bigger opportunities down the line.
Wheatley showcased the impressive discipline and effort against the Cardinals that made him a fan favorite in sectors of the online draft community.
There is being around the football, and then there's being at the football. More importantly, in run support. Wheatley was consistently around the line of scrimmage and made tackles from depth, whether it was shoestring plays to stop a big run in its tracks or solo stops in traffic near the line.
The former Penn State star looked comfortable playing as a deep zone defender on an island with the range to play hash-to-hash. There were moments where he was late to trigger or put himself in bad spots, especially on a couple of robber shell coverage calls, but he did so at full throttle and was rarely fazed.
That is such an important step for a fifth-round rookie looking to have a bigger role earlier than expected.
As some of you may know, I was higher on Wheatley than the consensus, believing he was worthy of a top-50 selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. For me, seeing him perform like he did last week comes as no surprise.
As the Panthers begin to see what they have in their 2026 draft class, Wheatley is becoming one of the first standouts early in the preseason. We need to see how the others continue to perform in the coming weeks and early in the regular season. However, the results are encouraging for a player in his position.
If he can keep the momentum going, it could lead to Wheatley having an important role in Carolina's defense sooner rather than later.
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