5. Carolina Panthers: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
The Carolina Panthers usually are taking a quarterback in our NFL mock draft scenarios, and rightfully so. Bryce Young has officially been benched and Andy Dalton has taken over, and it remains unclear whether or not head coach Dave Canales is going to hitch his wagon to Young beyond this season.
I don’t know that the Panthers are committed to Young at all, and I would be surprised if he wasn’t traded before the 2025 NFL Draft. But the Panthers may opt for a more veteran fix if they are unable to land one of the top 2-3 guys on their board, and in this scenario, they get arguably the best player in the entire draft. Travis Hunter is versatile and ridiculously talented, and no matter what his NFL projection is, I think he’s going to be a stud.
If I were the Panthers in this situation, I think Hunter would probably be starting out for me as the #1 receiver for whoever my quarterback was going to end up being.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars: Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
What in the world are the Jacksonville Jaguars going to do? This team paid a boatload of money to Trevor Lawrence under the assumption that he would be able to raise all the boats in the harbor and keep the Jaguars in contention in the AFC South.
Early on this season, Lawrence is looking like a bit of a bust and the Jaguars are struggling badly. They have needs all over the defensive front but getting more production off the edge is definitely not a bad idea. Abdul Carter has a chance to be the next in a long line of big-time edge prospects out of Penn State.