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CBS Sports: Carolina Panthers should watch LSU's Malik Nabers

profilephotocropby: Suzanne Halliburton09/03/23suzhalliburton
Malik Nabers panthers draft
Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

We’re still in the heat of early September, and the NFL is days away from opening the season. So why not talk about the draft and who Panthers fans may follow for 2024.

CBS Sports assigned a college star to each of the 32 NFL teams. And for the Panthers, it’s all about Malik Nabers, the dynamic LSU receiver who’ll start his season Sunday night on the road against Florida State. Of course, there are all sorts of caveats to these projections. You don’t know the draft order or what injuries or free agent departures or arrivals may do to a team’s roster. All you can do is guess.

So here’s what CBS Sports Josh Edwards wrote about the potential Panthers draft pick:

Nabers is the second-highest rated wide receiver in this draft class, for me, behind Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. Nabers has the size and speed to excel in a featured role alongside Bryce Young, but what really makes him special is his body control down the field. He is capable of high-pointing the football and contorting his body down the field like CeeDee Lamb showed coming out of Oklahoma. 

D.J. Chark and Adam Thielen are just place-holders until someone like Nabers arrives. 

Panthers fans should keep an eye on Malik Nabers, the LSU receiver who earned offensive MVP honors of the Citrus Bowl. (Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports)

Panthers probably will invest in a receiver to help Bryce Young

So it’s kind of an obvious prediction. The Panthers moved up to the No. 1 spot in April’s draft to select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. And Young will be the starter when Carolina kicks off the season next Sunday on the road against the Falcons. Why not spend a first-round pick on a receiver, dipping into the SEC ranks to help their former SEC QB?

Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr figures to be the top wideout off the draft board. And he may go right after the top quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.

So why should the Panthers look at Nabers? Well, by the numbers, his 72 receptions topped the SEC last year. And his 1,017 yards were second best in the conference. He also became the 10th LSU receiver in school history to surpass 1,000 yards. He earned offensive MVP honors in the Citrus Bowl thanks to his nine receptions for 163 yards, with 75 of it coming on a long TD.

Fans of the Panthers can watch Nabers Sunday night in a matchup with Seminole cornerback Fentrell Cypress, a transfer from Virginia. It should be one of the top matchups of the entire opening college football weekend.