CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Lots of people have an opinion on the NFL draft and who the Carolina Panthers should take with the No. 7 overall pick Thursday night.
But what would former Panthers do with the pick?
To find out, this week I contacted eight well-known former Carolina players and asked them who they would take at No. 7.
The poll's participants included three of the Panthers' four 2019 Hall of Honor inductees _ quarterback Jake Delhomme, offensive tackle Jordan Gross and tight end Wesley Walls _ as well as former linebacker Jon Beason, offensive lineman Kevin Donnalley, defensive tackle Al Wallace, safety Mike Minter and defensive end Mike Rucker.
For the purposes of this exercise, we assumed that the Panthers didn't trade the pick.
The results? A defense-first landslide.
Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown, a popular pick in many mock drafts to go to the Panthers at No. 7, barely won the former players' poll.
Brown received four of the former Panthers' eight votes. Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons was close behind with three votes. Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy received one vote.
Here are the first-person thoughts from each former player, with their comments lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
