Panthers 2021 mock draft: Trading up for a franchise QB

1. Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State

Of all the teams that could fit with North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, the Carolina Panthers might be the best situation.

Lance might be a better fit for other offensive schemes, and there is a really good fit for him with Carolina’s division rival Atlanta as Arthur Smith has now come over from the Titans where he ran an offense with Ryan Tannehill that could really suit Lance’s playing style.

The Panthers are bought into Matt Rhule over the long haul. They have some organizational stability for the time being and Rhule is building the team the way he wants to build it. In this case, he would be building around Lance for the long term with an offensive core including Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore.

At this point, who knows how long Rhule will be able to convince his young offensive coordinator Joe Brady to stay in town, especially if he is able to construct an offense with Lance where he could have early success.

He certainly has a ton of talent as a runner and as a passer, but there are some areas of his game to clean up. Fortunately for NFL teams, it sounds like Lance is a great kid with a good head on his shoulders and an appetite for hard work.

The Panthers could drive teams nuts with some read-option plays involving Lance and Christian McCaffrey, and they could put an offense together for him to be successful early on.