{"id":269846,"date":"2026-03-21T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T15:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=269846"},"modified":"2026-03-21T08:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:06:22","slug":"panthers-land-game-changing-tight-end-in-latest-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/03\/21\/panthers-land-game-changing-tight-end-in-latest-mock-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers Land Game-Changing Tight End In Latest Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers are coming off their best season in years, and fans have every reason to scourge the web for a mock draft that would help the team take the next step in 2026. Optimism is high for this organization, as Bryce Young continues to improve, Tetairoa McMillan looks like a great player<\/a>, and the team added several quality free agents at the start of the league year. However, the right draft pick can make or break an organization, and Bleacher Report’s<\/em> Daniel Harms<\/a> believes the Panthers should add more firepower to their offense.<\/p>\n

In a recent article, Harms has the Panthers selecting Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq<\/a> with the 19th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Sadiq is one of the most athletic players in the draft and should be a welcome addition to this offense if this prediction comes to light.<\/p>\n

“It’s time to add a true weapon at tight end for Carolina,” Harms said. “Sure, Sadiq is on the smaller side. But he’s an aggressive-minded blocker with Y-tight end capabilities and one of the best athletes in his class, regardless of position. His yards-after-catch ability can be great for quarterback Bryce Young to provide a quick option in the passing game.”<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Panthers Select TE Kenyon Sadiq In Latest Mock Draft<\/h2>\n

An elite tight end can be one of the most valuable non-quarterbacks in football, and Kenyon Sadiq has that in his range of outcomes. Blessed with elite physical gifts, the Oregon product runs a complete route tree and can do a little bit of everything as a receiver. He has the speed to blow past linebackers, the size to outmuscle safeties at the point of attack, and the stamina to pick up yards after the catch and break tackles.<\/p>\n

Historically speaking, tight ends struggle to adjust to the NFL and usually need a season or two before they can consistently contribute. However, players like Brock Bowers<\/a> and Harold Fannin Jr have immediately made positive impacts for their team, so there is a recent precedent for quick results. The NFL game is getting more and more similar to college by the year, so perhaps Carolina can expect fast contributions from Sadiq.<\/p>\n

Fit on the Depth Chart<\/h3>\n

Carolina has a small army of adequate role players at the tight end position, but nobody who’s anything more than a low-end starter. While Mitchell Evans, Tommy Tremble, and Ja’Tavion Sanders all have had their moments, their strengths aren’t strong enough to justify a full-time role, and they’re not well-rounded enough to be a jack of all trades, master of none. If this mock draft is correct, the Panthers could immediately put Kenyon Sadiq in as the top tight end on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

Bryce Young continues to improve on a year-by-year basis, but he’s not the type of quarterback who can succeed regardless of environment. Carolina built a solid offensive line and receiving core, and Sadiq could be the missing piece for this offense. With three reliable pass-catchers in Sadiq, McMillan, and Jalen Coker, Young should be able to lead an above-average passing attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest mock draft has the Carolina Panthers selecting Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the 19th-overall pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":269847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,30,33761],"tags":[33905,33777,7661],"class_list":["post-269846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-panthers","category-mock-drafts","tag-carolina-panthers-draft","tag-kenyon-sadiq","tag-panthers-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269846"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271844,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269846\/revisions\/271844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}