Panthers’ next pre-draft visit contradicts the approach head coach Dave Canales said he’s going to have heading into the 2026 NFL Draft
The Carolina Panthers are slated to have a pre-draft visit with Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor and here’s why it doesn’t make much sense based on everything head coach Dave Canales has said.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales was pretty blunt when asked what kind of players he’s looking to add to the roster with the 19th overall pick in the first-round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
“At this point, with the 19th pick, we really have an opportunity to bring a player in that can help us immediately. Who’s that going to be?” Canales said. “Of course, Dan (Morgan), Brandt (Tilis), and myself will always say we want to take the best available player. That’s what we did last year. . . We’d like to do that again. I don’t really believe in drafting for depth or doing things like that. It’s like, who can impact our team at that level?”
It’s a strong stance and helped eliminate some potential positions from the team’s radar in the first-round. Canales even went on to mention TE, WR, and S as three of the positions the team could consider. One position he didn’t mention was offensive tackle.
However, multiple draft experts continue to link a top offensive tackle to the 19th overall pick. And now the Panthers’ own actions are contradicting Canales’ comments.
Panthers will have an upcoming pre-draft visit with Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor
According to Greg Auman, the Panthers have the next visit on the schedule for Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor with eight more visits ahead for the popular prospect that’s gaining some serious steam.
With the Sun Devils, Iheanachor primarily lined up at right tackle but is still raw at the position to the point where certain teams could explore kicking him over to left tackle, if needed. For the Panthers, they already got both tackle positions figured out for 2026.
After losing left tackle Ikem Ekwonu in the playoffs to a patellar tendon injury, the Panthers made a value move to sign Rasheed Walker in free agency and added a depth tackle in Stone Forsythe.
“We were fortunate to get Rasheed,” Canales explained. “The guy’s got a bunch of experience and has played a lot of games. I feel great about that. Scheme-wise, he can do whatever he has to. So we feel good about the athlete. . . And we’re really fortunate that he’s coming in here, gives us flexibility, along with Stone Forsythe, so that whatever Ickey’s timeline looks like, we have guys that have played significant snaps.”
On the right side, the Panthers already have a veteran cornerstone in Taylor Moton, who’s going into his 10th season with the team. Perhaps the Panthers view a prospect like Iheanachor as a future successor for the 31-year-old tackle.
Drafting Max Iheanachor would be a massive reach and he won’t even be an immediate difference-maker
If the Panthers are showing interest in Iheanachor as a potential first-round target, the team would be making a massive reach at a position that isn’t even an immediate need. The only thing that makes sense is that maybe the Panthers believe Iheanachor will fall to their second-round selection (51st overall).
I really doubt that will happen. Multiple teams in the late first-round make sense to draft a player like Iheanachor, such as the New England Patriots. However, if Iheanachor somehow does make it to 51, I wouldn’t be opposed to that selection for Carolina.
Drafting Iheanachor at 19, or any other offensive tackle, would be the opposite of what Canales said he aims to accomplish in the first-round and create even more questions.
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