ESPN's Dan Graziano Says 'Most People Believe' Panthers Take C.J. Stroud

Is there a favorite in the race?

If you were hoping to hear some rumors leak from the annual league meeting about what the Carolina Panthers will do with the first pick in the draft, well, you got your wish.

According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, there is a feeling that the Panthers are leaning in a certain direction.

"The Carolina Panthers would have you believe they moved up from No. 9 to No. 1 in the draft without knowing which quarterback they're taking. As you'd expect, some people don't believe that, and a very unscientific poll of sources to whom I spoke at the [annual] meeting tells me most people believe they're taking Ohio State's, C.J. Stroud."

From the moment the Panthers made the trade, they made it clear that they were going to take as much time as possible before making their decision. It's very possible that we don't know who they are taking until Roger Goodell reads off the card on April 27th. 

"At the combine, we said if you wanted to move up then you better have conviction and we had conviction on players at that top that we feel good about," said GM Scott Fitterer. "Not going to go into it but we feel good in this position. We're still going through the process right now. Obviously, we have our ideas. You're not going to make a move like that without having that pretty much cemented. Now we're going through the process of talking to the players and really getting to know them. You know them as players going back a couple years as scouts have been watching these guys and evaluating them. We had a snapshot at the combine where you get 18 minutes talking to them, but really we want to get to know them, what drives them, who is supporting them in their family. So this is an important time going through this process, but we do feel good about the group up top."

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