The Panthers used the 144th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft to take Kansas State center Sam Hecht, adding another blocker to a line they spent the weekend rebuilding. Hecht was a former walk-on who became a starter for the Wildcats and arrives with 25 starts on his résumé.
The selection gave Carolina its second offensive lineman of the draft, after opening the weekend by taking tackle Monroe Freeling with the 19th overall pick in the first round. For a team that lost Cade Mays to Detroit and Austin Corbett to Buffalo in free agency, the message was plain: the front office is trying to restock the middle as well as the edges.
Hecht’s rise at Kansas State gives the pick a backstory that fits the kind of late-round offensive line bet teams make when they think they have found something sturdier than a workout number. He earned All-Big 12 honors last year after starting the final two seasons for the Wildcats, turning a walk-on path into a draft slot.
The Panthers had already moved to patch the position before the draft. They signed former Jaguars and Saints starter Luke Fortner in free agency and also had former Ravens practice squader Nick Samac on the roster previously, leaving the team with options but not much certainty about how the interior line would look by opening day.
Hecht also showed up on the league stage before draft weekend, running drills and the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on March 1, 2026. What Carolina is betting on now is not speed or buzz, but whether a player who grew into a starter at Kansas State can keep doing the same in the NFL.
That is the real shape of the Panthers’ draft: one premium tackle in Freeling, one experienced center in Hecht, and a clear response to an offseason that stripped away depth inside. If the line settles quickly, the weekend will look like a repair job done early; if it does not, Carolina may still be looking for answers in the same place next spring.
