The Christian McCaffrey bandwagon is getting more crowded by the day.
Just two weeks after Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com became the first analyst in our Mock Draft Report to make McCaffrey the Panthers' pick at No. 8 overall, half of this week's mock drafts targeted the versatile Stanford running back. Dalvin Cook, another running back who had a lot of momentum behind him early in the draft process, makes his first appearance in a while.
While all three mock drafters touting McCaffrey had perennial Panthers pick Leonard Fournette being selected before Carolina was on the clock, a couple of them had the Panthers passing over potential top-three picks in favor of McCaffrey. Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com had Carolina picking McCaffrey over defensive end Solomon Thomas, and Josh Norris of Rotoworld.com had McCaffrey going before safety Jamal Adams.
ProFootballFocus.com went all out with a mock draft featuring multiple drafters, having more than two dozen analysts draft live. In the end, Ben Stockwell selected defensive end Derek Barnett on behalf of the Panthers. In a hard-to-fathom twist in this multi-round draft, the Panthers also got Fournette – at No. 40 overall.
In Lance Zierlein's fresh mock for NFL.com, Barnett lasted until the 19th pick. He had the Panthers instead take O.J. Howard, considered the top tight end in the draft class.
