The Carolina Panthers 2022 season was a wild one. The team started 1-4 before owner David Tepper fired coach Matt Rhule. Under interim head coach Steve Wilks, the team rallied, going 6-6 down the stretch, nearly winning the ugly NFC South. Now the team has a new head coach in Frank Reich but is without a quarterback heading into next season. In the first Mel Kiper Jr. mock 2023 NFL Draft, the ESPN analyst has the team addressing that second issue with the Panthers' first-round pick. The Mel Kiper Panthers mock draft has the team taking the fourth quarterback on the board, who he says will not be able to start in 2023.
Mel Kiper has Florida QB Anthony Richardson as the Panthers’ first-round pick
The Carolina Panthers actually have a solid roster, with star players at premium positions like wide receiver D.J. Moore, defensive end Brian Burns, and left tackle (and last year’s first-round pick) Ikem Ekwonu.
The glaring hole in the team is at quarterback.
Last season, the team started two top-3 draft picks in Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, former XFL QB P.J. Walker, and even gave a cameo to Jacob Eason. Darnold was the most successful of the bunch, going 4-2 in six starts, but none of these players are long-term solutions.
This is why it is not a shock that the first Mel Kiper Panther mock draft has the team taking Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with its No. 9 overall pick. What is a bit of a surprise is that Kiper says the Panthers’ first-round pick won’t be able to start in 2023.
“Let's get this out of the way now,” Kiper writes about the Gators QB. “I wouldn't play Richardson in Year 1. He needs time to develop. He's not an NFL-ready thrower.”
Despite this caveat, the draft guru does offer effusive praise for the signal-caller talent and long-term development possibilities.
“He is an awesome talent, a raw quarterback in a 6-foot-4 frame who would be one of the league's most electrifying runners as soon as he steps on the field,” Kiper explains. “His size and physical tools cannot be taught, and NFL coaches will want to work with him and try to take him to the next level.”
Richardson is everything Kiper says he is. He is incredibly talented and athletic, and equally as raw. The QB had games with 400 (vs. Vanderbilt) and 453 (vs. Tennessee) passing yards. He also put up less than 200 yards passing in seven games.
With a 2023 NFL Draft pick who shouldn’t play next season, the Panthers will have to go out and get a veteran signal-caller in order to compete. This likely means Jimmy Garoppolo or Derek Carr. And if the Panthers do that, would it make just as much sense to use the No. 9 pick on a player who can help now and save the quarterback gamble for a later round?
It seems like it does.
In an alternate Mel Kiper Panthers mock draft, the team could take several players Kiper has on the board at No. 9 who could be difference-makers in 2023. Those Panthers' first-round picks could include Iowa defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
All three of these picks would add to areas of strength and set the team up better for success under a veteran QB.
Van Ness has inside-outside flexibility and could create incredible mismatches alongside Brian Burns and Derrick Brown. Smith-Njigba is an excellent possession receiver complement to D.J. Moore, and lining up Witherspoon across from Jaycee Horn could give the Panthers a lockdown secondary.
All that said, the hiring of Frank Reich could provide a clue as to what the franchise’s plans are for the Panthers’ first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Reich had his most NFL success as the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. There, he developed young Carson Wentz into a Pro Bowler and MVP candidate in 2016 (yes, that actually happened), and coaxed the best performance of his career out of backup Nick Foles to win a Super Bowl.
Conversely, as head coach of the Colts, his team was just so-so with established veterans like Philip Rivers, Wentz, and Matt Ryan. The fact that Tepper hired Reich seems like a sign that Kiper is on the right track in saying the Panthers' first-round pick will be a QB.
However, the other thing to watch out for is the Panthers using the extra picks they have from the Christian McCaffrey trade to trade up (even as far as No. 1) to get their pick of Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, or Kentucky’s Will Levis.
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