Star Lotulelei News

The Panthers have signed all five of their draft picks. Carolina announced Thursday it has signed its four previously unsigned draft picks -- defensive tackle Star Lotulelei from Utah, guard Edmund Kugbila from Valdosta State, linebacker A.J. Klein from Iowa State and running back Kenjon Barner from Oregon.

So it's no surprise the Panthers second-year middle linebacker was pretty excited when Carolina fulfilled his wish and selected Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei with the 14th pick in last month's NFL draft.

The Carolina Panthers have signed 2013 first-round draft choice defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and fourth-round choice guard Edmund Kugbila, the team announced Thursday.

Brian Urlacher wasn't sure how dominant he could be any longer, so he's calling it a career after 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears.

Second-round pick Kawann Short has signed with Carolina, the team announced Wednesday.

At his introductory press conference at Bank of America Stadium last month, Star Lotulelei sat at the dais as a poised, humble, mature and large man.

All players are equal, but some players are more equal than others. That's the basis of our Most Important Player series.

Projecting recruits into the NFL is not an ideal thing to do, as so much can happen during a player's senior year in high school and college career.

Then again, he didn't expect Purdue's Kawann Short would be there in the middle of the second round.

Carolina Panthers rookie running back Kenjon Barner reaches out for to make a pass reception during the team's rookie minicamp on Friday.

The University of Utah football program concluded spring camp in April and released a two-deep depth chart shortly after.

When the Panthers drafted a pair of defensive tackles in the third round in 2011, team officials hoped Sione Fua and Terrell McClain would clog the middle of interior defense for years to come.

Coach Kyle Whittingham watches during the Red-White Game at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 20, 2013.

With Star Lotulelei still on the board, the Carolina Panthers took all of 30 seconds to announce they were snagging him with their first-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

The selection of Star Lotulelei by the Carolina Panthers was the perfect union of best player available meeting need.

The first round of the NFL Draft was more than a week ago, but as I look back through the picks, I'm curious about how the Pac-12 players will do in the pros.

James Dator, editor of SB Nation's Cat Scratch Reader , joins Lewis to break down the Panthers' draft picks and discuss what they learned about new GM Dave Gettleman.

The Carolina Panthers double-dipped at the defensive tackle position in the first two rounds of the 2013 NFL Draft when they took Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short, respectively.

The last 10 years have been remarkable for the University of Utah football program.

November 25, 2011; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes defensive linemen Tevita Finau , Star Lotulelei , and Dave Kruger look to the sideline during the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes at Rice Eccles Stadium.