NFL Draft Day 2 Recap: Panthers make three trades, Payton Wilson to the Steelers

There's always a lot going on at the NFL Draft. And since it's a busy night elsewhere in the sports world, you might miss some of the best moments on the live broadcast.

Not to worry!

Below is a running diary of the Friday (and Thursday) highlights:

If you're a linebacker, there are few better NFL destinations than Pittsburgh.

The NC State star won both the Bednarik and Butkus awards this past season as the best defensive player in the nation. He racked up an absurd 136 tackles in 2023, with 6 sacks, 3 interceptions and a touchdown.

So why did he fall to the end of the third round?

That answer is actually pretty simple. Wilson has a long injury history already and plays a non-premium position in off-ball linebacker.

Carter was a 3-time captain for the Blue Devils, the first in program history. That alone tells you about the character and work ethic that he's taking to Buffalo.

As a former linebacker himself, it's no surprise Dan Morgan decided to bring in a player like Wallace this early.

At 6'1", 237 lbs, Wallace has plenty of size that should help him adjust to the NFL level.

If you thought the Panthers were going to stand pat at No. 65 overall to open the third round, you don't know Dan Morgan. This man is addicted to making trades, and committed to accumulating extra draft capital.

In such a deep draft at key positions, you have to be a fan of this gameplan from Morgan. A normal amount of picks isn't going to get it done.

The Panthers have a multitude of holes to fill on their roster. The more tries to find an impact player, the better.

Stay tuned.

Well we know this... Dan Morgan isn't exactly a "sit and wait" type of GM.

Brooks' season was cut short when he tore his ACL in November. It is still unclear when he will return to action.

On top of giving Bryce Young another weapon to work with on offense, the Brooks pick makes it pretty clear that Morgan is not that impressed with Miles Sanders (or Chuba Hubbard).

Carolina had other needs here. You don't make this pick unless you feel that Brooks is going to heavily contribute this year, then take over as the full-time starter next year.

Trade details, by the way, are as follows:

New general manager Dan Morgan is clearly unafraid to make a deal.

In exchange, the Panthers get the No. 52 overall pick, a 5th round pick in this year's draft and, most crucially, a 2nd round pick in next year's draft!

After drafting an offensive player last night, look for the Panthers to possibly address the defensive side of the ball when they pick next, particularly at cornerback or edge rusher.

Essentially, the Panthers swapped out one of their 5th round picks (141st overall) for Buffalo's 6th round pick (200th overall) to get the deal done.

That explosiveness is something the Panthers offense sorely lacked in 2023. Clearly, getting Bryce Young a (hopefully) elite weapon was top priority for this Carolina coaching staff.

The Buffalo Bills traded away Stefon Diggs this offseason. They need a receiver.

They also can't seem to get past the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Helping them would be a bad idea.

And yet, it seems that's exactly what the Bills did, when they allowed the Chiefs to trade up to their No. 28 overall pick and draft Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy.

With that kind of speed, Worthy is drawing obvious comparisons to another former Chiefs receiver, Tyreek Hill (but hopefully without the off-field issues).

Duke's Graham Barton is guaranteed to make a return trip to North Carolina at least once per season.

Barton was a two-time first-team All-ACC in 2022 and 2023. He is the eighth first round pick in Duke football history and the first since Daniel Jones in 2019.

He is also the highest-ever offensive lineman drafted out of Duke, beating out Laken Tomlinson in 2015 (Tomlinson went 28th overall to the Detroit Lions).

ABC's NFL draft coverage is a bit more family-focused and it gave us a couple gems on Thursday night.

Not long after that, Rutledge moved on to interview the parents of receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (who went 23rd overall to the Jaguars), when she asked a pretty standard question about the metaphorical journey the family took to reach this point.

For the first time in draft history, there were 14 straight offensive players drafted. Not just to start the draft, but at any point in the draft, period.

Latu is a cool story. He actually medically retired from football at Washington because of neck issues but, after transferring to UCLA, was able to get the medical attention he needed to continue his career.

Shortly after the shocking Penix pick, the Minnesota Vikings traded up one spot to No. 10 and selected JJ McCarthy out of Michigan.

That's not really a surprise, but the Denver Broncos' move at No. 12 was. They drafted Oregon's Bo Nix, making him the sixth quarterback selected in the first dozen picks.

This is a stunner from the Panthers' NFC South rivals

The Falcons just gave a ton of money to Kirk Cousins in free agency so they have more pressing needs than quarterback on their roster, namely a pass rusher.

Atlanta has just 81 sacks in the last three seasons combined, the lowest in the NFL.

Penix just had an outstanding season at Washington, leading the Huskies to the National Championship game, but he also has a long list of injuries in his history.

The rest of the league is going to have a hard time topping this one in terms of shock factor for the rest of the night.

This was the first truly intriguing moment of the night.

New England was considering trading back from this spot (likely to either the Giants or Vikings), but decided against it in order to draft the former Tar Heel star.

Maye is the second UNC quarterback in the last seven years to be drafted in the Top 3 of the draft. Mitchell Trubisky went No. 2 overall to the Bears back in 2017.

No surprise here. This has been an open secret for weeks now.

Williams goes to a Chicago team that was playing pretty good football at the end of the 2023 season. They were also aggressive during free agency, acquiring receiver Keenan Allen and running back D'Andre Swift to go alongside DJ Moore.

Panthers prioritize offense in well-balanced NFL Draft class

Gerber: The perfect Panthers NFL Draft gameplan