2022 Senior Bowl will be quarterback central

CHARLOTTE — When trying to build a stable and consistent winner in the NFL, one of the best ways to construct a roster is around a talented, young quarterback.

The Panthers are going to get a close look at six of them next week.

As the scouting staff prepares to go to the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala., they’re going to have a chance to get their first extended looks at six of the top seven quarterbacks available in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik Willis, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder, Nevada’s Carson Strong, and Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe make up the quarterback depth charts for the annual college all-star game, bringing the top prospects at the most-watched position together.

(Matt Corral of Ole Miss is the outlier, as he’s a potential first-round pick, but he won’t be in Mobile.)

And while the Panthers have enough other needs that there’s no guarantee they’re drafting one this year, there is every reason to make sure they have a thorough evaluation of all six of them.

For one thing, the economic advantages of having a young quarterback make it easier to put talent around him, which helps the entire process. General manager Scott Fitterer learned that lesson firsthand in Seattle with Russell Wilson, as they won a Super Bowl while Wilson was on his rookie contract and they had lots of cap room to pay the Legion of Boom and the rest of a championship defense.

But it’s not just the Seahawks that have benefitted from that strategy over the years. Of this year’s 14 playoff teams, 10 were led into the postseason by quarterbacks they drafted. Some of them are old (like the just-retired Ben Roethlisberger), but four of them are still on their first contracts (Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts).

Because they’re so valuable economically, you have to have a complete picture of all of them to make sure you’re not passing on a guy who can help you win in a number of ways. Of course, the football evaluation will always be the most important part, and that’s what the next three months will be about.

That said, here’s a quick look at the six quarterbacks they’ll get to watch in practices next week.