Risers and fallers from the 2024 NFL Draft Combine

The underwear olympics are far from a perfect science, but they do influence player perceptions as we approach the draft.

The Carolina Panthers need a lot of help going into the 2024 NFL Draft, and they don’t have a lot of picks to make that happen at the moment. They really, really need to hit on multiple players, which is all the more difficult without a first round pick. Every piece of information is vital when the margins are so small, and the NFL Combine gave us a few more data points in the evaluation process.

Players won’t see drastic changes in their draft stock because of what happened at the combine over the weekend, but they can give front offices second thoughts. Here are some players that might be interesting to the Panthers that had noteworthy performances.

Risers

Texas wide receivers

Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy stole the show in the 40 yard dash. Mitchell is the better overall prospect and is in play at the Panthers pick at the top of the second round. His athletic testing was off the charts at a bulky 6’2”, 205 pounds. His wide receiver skills are somewhat raw, but the athleticism is going to intrigue teams.

Meanwhile his teammate Xavier Worthy set a combine record with a 4.21 40 yard dash. He’s also a possibility at the top of the second round, and that 40 time combined with his production is enough to make teams take a long look at him.

Ladd McConkey

The Georgia wide receiver has been a postseason riser after a stellar showing at the Senior Bowl. He measured on the smaller side at 5’11” 186 pounds, but his showing in the 40 yard dash and drills is what’s going to have evaluators intrigued. He’s been profiled as a technician and having sub-4.4 speed to go with that is going to make him a tough cover. He showed his fluidity in the drills. He’s in play for the 33rd overall pick.

Cooper Beebe

A couple of years ago on our podcast, we talked to Kent Lee Platte, creator of the Relative Athletic Score (RAS). He told us that success of offensive guards was more correlated with athletic testing than you would think. Beebe tested off the charts, especially in the movement drills. He’s a little short (maybe a good thing with a short quarterback?) and there were knocks against his athleticism before the combine. His showing over the weekend will make teams reconsider their questions about his ability to move in space.

Kinglsey Suamataia

Penei Sewell’s cousin tested almost identically to Sewell at the combine. His tape is obviously not as impressive as Sewell’s, but strong athletic testing and strong bloodlines combined with good enough tape make him an interesting target on Day 2.

Caelen Carson and Payton Wilson

A couple of local collegiate products name dropped Panthers when talking about their own games. Carson said he shares a trainer with Jaycee Horn and models his game after him. Wilson is an off ball linebacker that called Luke Kuechly his GOAT. Carson is a corner prospect that Panthers could look at early on Day 3. Wilson doesn’t fit a need and is projected to go in an awkward spot relative to the Panthers current picks, but maybe? He ran a 4.43 40 which is wild for a 235 pound linebacker.

Fallers

Ennis Rakestrow Jr.

The Panthers have a pretty substantial need at cornerback after reportedly deciding to let Donte Jackson go. Rakestrow had been projected to go in the Panthers range in the second round, but his combine performance is throwing up red flags. He didn’t run well despite coming in relatively lean, and it’ll be hard for the Panthers to justify taking a below average athlete at the cornerback position with their first draft pick.

Troy Franklin Jr.

While the other wide receivers mentioned above were putting on a show, Franklin was doing the same but for opposite reasons. He ran really well, which was expected, but he weighed in at just 176 pounds and struggled with the gauntlet. This is generally supposed to be run in a straight line.

That came after his first run where he had a couple of bobbles. He seemed to be drifting away from the ball to make it easier to catch. The opposite of what you want your wide receivers doing.

Plenty more information is going to come out about these prospects between now and the draft at the end of April. The combine has given us plenty to talk about for the time being. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming pro days and reports about interviews with teams as draft boards are finalized.