CHARLOTTE — The Panthers know who they're taking Thursday night.

They're not telling anyone, of course. But they know.

Head coach Frank Reich said after Tuesday's voluntary minicamp practice that he and general manager Scott Fitterer had the talk on Monday and had arrived at the same conclusion.

(Spoiler alert: It's going to be a quarterback.)

"He did; he actually sat down in my office yesterday at some point and asked the question," Reich said with a bit of a laugh. "Kind of like a proposal. And I said yes."

Reich said that coaches might have begun the process with a certain "inclination" and gradually got to the same place the scouts were, thanks to a thorough process.

From all the tape they watched and meetings conducted, and the extensive pro day tour, the Panthers did a deep dive on the top four prospects at the position — Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Alabama's Bryce Young, Kentucky's Will Levis, and Florida's Anthony Richardson.

From there, they brought all four to Bank of America Stadium for individual visits and also met with all four at the combine.

"I think the process was really first-class; Scott handled it perfectly," Reich said. "The scouts were amazing. You know, it really helped us as coaches, helped us frame some questions. You know, we all went into the thing with ideas inclinations but stayed true to the process."

Reich said while there might have been "ebbs and flows" about individual quarterbacks, the plan was to be deliberate.

"I wouldn't say there's any drastic change in your mind, he said. "But there's ebbs and flows of how much you like the guy. And that's why you have to resist the temptation to make your mind up too early. So I thought we as scouting staff and coaches, did a good job of not falling into that trap."

So now, we wait until Thursday night.