“Tank szn” is now over for the Carolina Panthers—even before the final seconds of their 2021 season ticked away.
Prior to kickoff, the franchise officially clinched (if you’d like to call it that) the sixth overall pick in the upcoming 2022 NFL draft. Regardless of their outcome against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this Week 18 finale, they—according to Tankathon.com—cannot move up or down in the first-round order.
That area seems to be a sweet spot of sorts for Carolina, who picked from the eighth overall position in 2021 and the seventh in 2020. Those selections resulted in University of South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn and Auburn University defensive tackle Derrick Brown, respectively.
Additionally, this will be the first time in the organization’s history—as long as they keep the pick—that they’ve placed into the sixth overall slot. It’s also the highest pick they’ve had since drafting a guy named Cam Newton at No. 1 overall in 2011.
