Carolina Panthers officially sign second-round pick Jonathan Mingo

The Carolina Panthers have signed one of their top picks in the 2023 NFL draft and a potential game-changing playmaker on offense. Former Ole Miss star Jonathan Mingo signed with Carolina on Tuesday, the organization announced.

Mingo was selected with the No. 39 overall pick in the second round of this year’s NFL draft. He should immediately be a top target for rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

Mingo caught 51 passes for 861 yards and five touchdowns as a senior in 2022, while starting all 13 games. For his career, he finished with 112 catches for 1,758 yards and 12 touchdowns, while averaging nearly 16 yards per reception.

Jonathan Mingo joins a Panthers receivers room that has been overhauled this offseason. In addition to adding Mingo, Carolina also signed Adam Thielen and DJ Chark as weapons for Bryce Young.

Speaking of Young, he is the only Panthers draft pick for 2023 who remains unsigned.

Before going on to star at Ole Miss, Mingo was ranked as the No. 213 overall player in the country for the class of 2019, according to the On3 Industry rankings.

He was an immediate contributor for the Rebels, starting all 12 games and finishing with 12 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown as a freshman.

As a sophomore in 2020, Mingo played in all 10 games, with eight starts. He finished that year with 27 catches for 379 yards and three scores.

Mingo was banged up as a junior in 2021, starting six games but missing seven games due to injuries. Finally healthy this past season, he had an All-SEC year.

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich addresses NFL gambling policy

As for off the field news, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich recently weighed in on the NFL gambling policy. He believes that continuing to educate players on the policies and guidelines is critical.

“It’s a big deal,” Reich said, per the Charlotte Observer. “Obviously, we fully support and agree with everything the league is doing in this area. It’s something to be taken very serious. So, you approach the education process through multiple efforts, a lot of it — we have a great support staff — and then the league sends in people to do training, more formal things. But then there’s a lot of informal discussion with our development people.

“And it’s an ongoing process, right? This is a new issue, players and coaches — we all need to continue how important this is for the integrity of our game and fully support what the league is doing.”