Grading The Pick: Panthers GM Dan Morgan trades up to land Lee Hunter amid a run of defensive tackles in the second-round
The Carolina Panthers made a slight push up the board in the second-round of the 2026 NFL Draft to continue attacking the trenches, this time with a massive interior defensive lineman.
Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan didn’t intend to wait long during the second-round of the 2026 NFL Draft before making a move.
The Panthers traded the 51st and 159th overall picks to the Minnesota Vikings for the 49th and 196th overall picks to move up and select Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter.
Morgan noted before the draft that the defensive tackle class in this year’s class was “top-heavy” and decided to make a push up the board after watching Kayden McDonald and Christen Miller come off the board early in the second-round. Hunter is a massive human being and the second selection to upgrade the trenches in Carolina.
Lee Hunter provides some strong interior push for the Panthers’ defense alongside Derrick Brown
Lee Hunter has solid size at 6-4 and 318 pounds, but his 6-9 wingspan is more impressive. He projects best as a three-tech in the NFL, but played a little bit of everything out of the interior for Texas Tech. Hunter is coming off arguably his best and most complete game showing in college. He was all over the field in Texas Tech’s loss to Oregon in the College Football Playoff. Some question his motor and stamina at times, but he chased down ball carriers from across the field in that game.
Overall, Hunter has nice short-area quickness, but lacks a lot of long-speed on film. He showed some solid flashes as a pass rusher this past year, but still had a lot of room to grow in that regard. So, unless he’s going to try to be a one-tech/nose tackle full-time in the NFL, he’s going to need to add more moves to his arsenal to see the field in a large role. He’d probably be more productive as a nose early in his career, but his ceiling is the highest as a three-tech.
He has a ton of upside, though, and while he didn’t get his hands on the QB often, he did do a solid job at not allowing them to step up in the pocket. So, in a way, his role was to make life easier for the team’s edge-rush duo of David Bailey and Romello Height.
Hunter now joins the defensive front in Carolina featuring Jaelan Phillips, Nic Scourton, Derrick Brown, Tershawn Warton, and Princely Umanmielen. Some serious firepower for defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to deploy in attacking the quarterback. Given the position run and lack of depth, it might prove to be worth the slight trade up.
Grade: B+