Panthers met with blue-chip prospect at their weakest position

The “analytics” say that the interior defensive line position may be the most-important in the modern NFL. That’s bad news for the Carolina Panthers, who are extremely top-heavy at this spot. They found that out the hard way this past season when they lost Derrick Brown to a knee injury in Week 1 that put him on the sidelines for the rest of the year.

Without their star up front to plug up the run, opponents ran the ball down Carolina’s throat all year and they wound up finishing with more rushing yards allowed than any other team, a big factor in their finishing with the worst scoring defense of all time.

Good news on this front: the Panthers are showing interest in the number one iDL prospect in the 2025 NFL draft class. That would be Mason Graham from Michigan, who they reportedly met with last week at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

There’s no guarantee that Graham (6-foot-3, 318 pounds) will still be on the board when the Panthers are on the clock with the eighth overall pick in the draft. However, if he is picking him should be the easiest decision this team will make all year. Graham has all the tools to be an All-Pro interior disruptor at the next level. Here are the highlights.

Graham’s numbers aren’t exactly anything to write home about, as he posted nine sacks and 18 tackles for a loss in 39 college games. The Panthers and other interested teams should feel free to ignore those stats, which are always at least somewhat misleading when it comes to interior defensive linemen. Derrick Brown is one of the best in the game at his position and he’s never totaled more than three sacks or eight tackles for a loss in a single season.

What matters are Graham’s traits, which include great movement for his size, upper half power and surprisingly fluid hips for his position.

Drafting Graham would give Carolina one of the best starting defensive line combos in the league and immediately improve their run defense and interior pass rushing in a major way. There are other prospects certainly worth consideration at this pick, but if he’s there the Panthers should not overthink it.

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