NFL Draft: Panthers want to find a new pass rusher. So why not take 2 shots? (2025)

On Day 2 of the NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers did things in twos.

Two trades up.

Two edge rushers.

Two chances to impact a defense that has been historically dreadful.

The Panthers chose Texas A&M edge rusher Nic Scourton in the second round with the 51st overall pick and then, in case that wasn’t enough, picked Ole Miss edge rusher Princely Umanmielen in the third round with the 77th overall selection. In both cases, they traded up a few picks to get their guys, but didn’t give up very much draft capital to do so.

I liked this day of the draft better than Day 1 for Carolina, where I thought they should have gone with a defensive player. They instead chose Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. T-Mac, as he likes to be called, showed up Friday afternoon in Charlotte for some handshakes and a press conference. A few hours later the draft kept moving along, with Carolina trying to find some defensive help to supplement taking a wide receiver in the first round for two seasons in a row.

“They’re two guys that we think very highly of,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said at the end of the night of his two new pass rushers. “They can get to the quarterback, they can play the run and they can do all the things that we’re going to ask them to do. ... We didn’t think we’d be able to get both of them, so to be able to capitalize and trade up and get these guys — we’re just super-excited about it.”

The two players, as you would expect, were super-excited too. Umanmielen (OO-man-me-ellen), who is a live wire who Carolina fans are really going to dig if he’s any good, said he didn’t know Scourton. But, he added: “I’m ready to go in and dominate with him.”

Umanmielen undoubtedly also has one of the coolest first names in Panthers history. Princely is the second of four brothers. The other three are named Prince, Princewill and Princeton. Umanmielen explained on his conference call with the media that his family came from Nigeria and had an ancestor who was the “king” of a village, so his father decided to name each of his sons in honor of their royal heritage. All four of the brothers play football, too.

Scourton was chosen 26 picks before The Sack Artist Currently Known as Princely (OK, I’ll stop). So Scourton is supposed to be even better. Scourton said he started the season last year at Texas A&M at 285 pounds, but he weighed 257 at the NFL Scouting Combine. Both players have somewhat different rushing styles, but the main thing is that both are supposed to be able to get there. Pass rushing was a key deficiency last season for the Panthers, who allowed the most points in NFL history and were also near the bottom in basically every sack and pressure category you can name.

Scourton, who is one of the youngest players in the NFL Draft this year at age 20, said he feels like a “natural-born leader.” He sounded a little like one, too. When asked about pass rushers he admired, he came up with Brandon Graham and Dwight Freeney. Umanmielen answered the same question with Von Miller, whose two strip-sacks of Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50 while playing for Denver turned him into that game’s Most Valuable Player.

If either player can have a career with half the stats of those three guys, the Panthers will have spent their draft picks well on Friday night. I do like that Carolina took two throws at the dartboard on edge rushers, though. Edge rusher is a spot where you can’t have too much talent, but you certainly can have too little, as Carolina did last season.

Now it’s onto Day 3 of the NFL Draft, with Carolina still needing another safety, linebacker, tight end — the list goes on. When you go 2-15 one year and 5-12 the next, you need a whole lot of things. But I thought the Panthers got better Friday night.