Carolina Panthers 2015 Draft Preview

Apr 23, 2015 - 5:42 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - When your offensive tackles from a year ago were Byron Bell and Mike Remmers, that's a pretty good indication you need an upgrade and the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers should have some options at No. 25 overall.

It might come down to a what-flavor-do-you-like mentality with prospects like Florida's D.J. Humphries and Miami-Florida's Ereck Flowers. Humphries is more athletic and projects to the left side while Flowers is a safer, road-grader type.

Carolina should be able to find adequate skill position help later because the draft is deeper there. Defensively the top need is in the secondary but that pales in comparison to keeping Cam Newton upright.

2014 Record: 7-8-1

Top Needs: OT, WR, DB, RB

First Three Picks: No. 25, No. 57, No. 89

Number of Selections: 9 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7)

RECENT FIRST ROUND HISTORY: 2014 - Kelvin Benjamin (WR, Florida State); 2013 - Star Lotulelei (DT, Utah); 2012 - Luke Kuechly (MLB, Boston College); 2011 - Cam Newton (QB, Auburn); 2010 - none; 2009 - none; 2008 - Jonathan Stewart (RB, Oregon), Jeff Otah (OT, Pittsburgh); 2007 - Jon Beason (LB, Miami- Florida); 2006 - DeAngelo Williams (RB, Memphis); 2005 - Thomas Davis (S/LB, Georgia)