The Carolina Panthers have decided to pick up the fifth-year option for their 2023 first-round draft pick, left tackle Ickey Ekwonu. A sixth overall pick that year out of North Carolina State, Ekwonu didn’t exactly hit the ground running in the NFL in the way you’d hope from out of a top-10 overall pick. However, Ekwonu has steadily improved over time and took a big step forward in 2024.
For the year Ekwonu earned a strong 80.5 run blocking grade from Pro Football Focus to go with a 66.2 in pass blocking. That second mark will need to improve, but as of yet he hasn’t had a break-through in this department, earning grades of 67.5, 62.3 and 66.2 in three years.
In case you’re wondering, the cost of Ekwonu’s fifth-year option will come out to $17,560,000. All of that will be fully guaranteed, unless of course the Panthers sign Ekwonu to an extension before then.
Whether that happens or not will depend a great deal on how Ekwonu performs in 2025. If he can take the next step and start playing at a Pro Bowl level, there’s a strong case to give him a lucrative long-term deal. However, if he regresses or doesn’t show improvement it might be best to let him play out that option and then re-evaluate from there.
As for how this impacts Carolina’s plans, most likely it explains why they have passed on offensive tackle prospects in the draft after sniffing around a few of them in the pre-draft process.
Fellow WR prospect Jimmy Horn Jr. earned a disappointing 4.48 RAS, but he did grade well in 40-yard-dash speed. His explosive metrics were also excellent, ranking nearly 9.00 or better. Princely Umanmielen was perhaps their most athletic selection. He graded out at 8.99 thanks to elite speed and explosion. He ranked 206 out of all defensive ends since 1987.