CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- All five of the Carolina Panthers' draft picks will begin their NFL careers in a different number than they wore in college.
First-round draft pick Shaq Thompson will wear No. 54, second-round pick Devin Funchess No. 17, fourth-round pick Daryl Williams No. 60, fifth-round pick David Mayo No. 55 and fifth-round pick Cameron Artis-Payne No. 45.
Here’s a picture of the jerseys on the Panthers’ official Twitter account:
#JerseyNumberUpdate!
@ShaqThompson_7: 54
@D_FUNCH: 17
@DarylWilliams79: 60
@Mayo_Man_3: 55
@ThaRealKillaCam: 45 pic.twitter.com/b9QwiEjmdg
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) May 4, 2015Thompson wore No. 7 as a linebacker/safety/running back at the University of Washington. Linebackers have to wear numbers in the 40s, 50s and 90s in the NFL -- and the 40s were only recently added by the competition committee.
No. 54 most recently was worn at Carolina by linebacker Jason Williams.
Funchess wore No. 1 and No. 87 at Michigan, where he played wide receiver and tight end. No. 1 is owned by quarterback Cam Newton at Carolina, so that never was a consideration.
The most prominent Carolina player to wear No. 17 was quarterback Jake Delhomme, who led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003.
Williams wore No. 79 at Oklahoma, where he played right tackle. Guard Chris Scott already had No. 79.
Mayo wore No. 3 at Texas State, where as a linebacker he finished second in the nation in tackles last season with 154. Beyond the rule for linebacker numbers, backup quarterback Derek Anderson wears No. 3 for Carolina.
The most prominent Carolina player to wear No. 55 was linebacker Dan Morgan.
Artis-Payne was No. 44 at Auburn, where he was a running back. He mentioned on Saturday he might like 34, the number all-time leading rusher DeAngelo Williams had before being released in February. No. 44 already was owned by deep-snapper J.J. Jansen.
Bonus number update: Free-agent acquisition Charles Tillman doesn’t have a number on the Panthers’ official website. The 34-year-old cornerback was No. 33 at Chicago. Rookie safety Tre Boston had that number last year, so there may be some negotiations.
