Carolina Panthers: 7-round 2016 NFL mock draft

Though letting Josh Norman go obviously made cornerback the biggest need for the Panthers entering the draft, needing depth at safety was something they had to have as part of their to-do list heading into the offseason from the very start. Sure, the likes of Kurt Coleman and Roman Harper were fine for them last season and you can rely on them to a certain degree this season, but adding depth and high-upside players at the position surely wouldn’t be the worst idea.

If they do choose to look at safety in the later rounds, Clayton Fejedelem out of Illinois is an interesting prospect for the Panthers to look at. For starters, he’s the hard-working, heavy hitting type of player that has become the embodiment of the Panthers’ mentality in this league. On top of that, though, he was a player who showed a lot of skill playing mainly Cover-4 with the Fighting Illini, making him a curious selection for a zone-coverage based Carolina team.

Sure, Fejedelem needs some work on his technique and isn’t the most physical presence in the history of the NFL Draft. However, he’s a player that could be quite serviceable in providing depth at a position where the Panthers need just that. As such, making that call with their final pick in this 7-round NFL mock draft seems like the only logical decision.