Lawrence is the last man standing from a draft class that saw quarterbacks come off the board with each of the first three picks, as well as five in the first round. Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones have all either lost their starting spot, been traded to a new team, or both.

In the 2024 NFL Draft under new general manager Dan Morgan, the Panthers moved down a few times to pick up more draft capital, but that was very much out of necessity. Under previous regimes in 2021, 2022 and 2023, they traded a bunch of their picks for players or to move up in the draft.

The Carolina Panthers, in essence, made their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft last spring. Carolina sent a 2024 first-rounder along with its 2023 first-round selection, a 2025 second-round pick and DJ Moore to Chicago for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, which the Panthers used to select Bryce Young.

The Cincinnati Bengals have seen a number of their 2024 NFL draft selections pop up described as “sleepers” so far in the aftermath of the event. One of those, though, is a guy coaches have been adamant carries big expectations to the pros right away — cornerback Josh Newton.

The Washington State University cornerback, who was taken with this year’s 157th overall selection, has been named the Carolina Panthers’ “ best sleeper pick ” by Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar. Farrar writes of the fresh fifth-rounder: Smith-Wade is another cornerback who played quite a bit outside in college,

From Tejhaun Palmer to Travis Magee, here’s one draft sleeper for every NFL team — those guys who should have been selected earlier than they were.