Had Panthers drafted a defender on Day 1, here's who they would have been choosing between

[ASFN Admin]

After fielding what may have been the absolute worst defense in the history of the NFL, the Carolina Panthers were expected to invest the most valuable asset of their offseason towards fixing it. That, however, is not what happened this past Thursday night.

Instead of going with a defender, the Panthers took University of Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the eight overall pick of the 2025 NFL draft. McMillan, a 6-foot-4 All-American pass catcher, could help patch up another problem on the other side of the ball—perhaps giving the offense and third-year quarterback Bryce Young the true No. 1 target they've been lacking.

But if they went down the path that most had assumed they would? Who, if they were choosing for their defense, would have had their named called by Carolina that evening?

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the selection might've come down to two prospects.

Breer, in his post-draft takeaways from Monday, wrote the following:

Had they gone defense at No. 8, Georgia hybrid Jalon Walker and Ole Miss 3-technique Walter Nolen were at the top of their list. But pairing one of those two with, say, Iowa State slot receiver Jaylin Noel (their slotted second-round pick was Chicago’s, as the last piece of the Bryce Young trade, so the second-rounder they had was later in the round, acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in last year’s Braden Fiske trade) didn’t measure up with McMillan and the edge guys available Friday. So they took McMillan, and traded up from No. 57 to 51 to land Texas A&M edge Nic Scourton in the second round.

Walker was the perceived favorite for the Panthers in the lead-up to the draft. The Salisbury, N.C. native played both off the ball and off the edge at Georgia, and could assumed a Frankie Luvu-esque role for the Carolina defense.

Nolen, on the other hand, seemed to be a very late riser for the pick. A few insiders, including longtime draft analyst Todd McShay, hinted that the 6-foot-4, 296-pound lineman was in serious consideration by the team just hours before the first round began.

The two would end up going consecutively later in the round—with Walker being taken by the Atlanta Falcons at No. 15 and Nolen by the Arizona Cardinals at No. 16.

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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: NFL draft: Jalon Walker, Walter Nolen were considered by Panthers

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