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Carolina Panthers Mock Draft: Midseason Edition

By Christian Candeloro

EUGENE, OREGON - OCTOBER 05: Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks warms up prior to taking on the California Golden Bears during their game at Autzen Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OREGON - OCTOBER 05: Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks warms up prior to taking on the California Golden Bears during their game at Autzen Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Hunter Renfrow #13 of the Clemson Tigers attempts to catch the pass under pressure from Xavier McKinney #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Hunter Renfrow #13 of the Clemson Tigers attempts to catch the pass under pressure from Xavier McKinney #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi’s Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Safety. Crimson Tide . Xavier McKinney. 51. player. 829.

I continue my defensive love with a plug and play safety in Xavier McKinney out of Alabama. The two words that describe McKinney are versatile and athletic, something that would fit perfectly in the Panthers secondary right now. McKinney could fill in one of the starting safety spots or slide down to the nickel cornerback spot in place of Javien Elliott.

As we noted in our midseason report card for the Panthers, the defensive backfield has been well above average this season, allowing the eighth-fewest passing yards and intercepting more passes than touchdowns allowed. McKinney could take a good defensive backfield and make it great.

It might seem counter-intuitive to continue building up the defense when the offense has so many holes but ascribing to the best player on the board strategy lead to these picks, with an obvious caveat that I avoided the running back position and chose not to take any of the available quarterbacks.

Also Available: RB Travis Etienne – Clemson, QB Jacob Eason – Washington, QB Jake Fromm – Georgia, TE Brycen Hopkins – Purdue

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