A year after having to wait until No. 24 in order to make their first pick of the draft, the Carolina Panthers will be on the clock much sooner next spring. A playoff appearance in 2017, as a wild card, resulted in the late selection following a year in which the Panthers received the No. 8 overall pick and turned it into dynamic running back Christian McCaffrey.
Despite getting to make a selection 16 spots higher, McCaffrey wasn’t the first player from his position off the board. The Jacksonville Jaguars took Leonard Fournette fourth overall and some were surprised by Carolina taking McCaffrey at eight – those critics have since been silenced.