I’ve never been one to go all that crazy about what draft experts predict. It’s not their fault; it’s just, how accurate could they truly be?

Take the Panthers first-round pick, for example. They’re sitting at 28. Who knows who will fall, which runs will happen or what trades go down in the 27 previous spots.

Well by the sound of it, ESPN’s Mel Kiper actually has a pretty good sense of what Carolina could do. Or more accurately, what they won’t do.

“I don’t see anybody at 28 from an offensive tackle standpoint that would excite me over a wide receiver,” Kiper said on a conference call Wednesday.

We’ll get to the receiver part, but first, let’s examine what he said about offensive tackle.

There’s no question the Panthers need one, or even two, but general manager Dave Gettleman is not going to reach for a need. He just isn’t. He’s firmly entrenched with a ‘best player available’ philosophy. He said it last year. He said it at the Combine. He’ll say it again when he meets with the media sometime next week.

Just yesterday, in a prediction for the SportsXchange, I sent Alabama’s Cyrus Kouandjio to the Panthers. Oops. Since then, the things I’m hearing point away from a tackle at 28. Why?

There’s three guys in this draft that can definitely play left tackle in the NFL: Auburn’s Greg Robinson, Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews and Michigan’s Taylor Lewan. The rest could be right tackles, but there’s no guarantees they could play left.

You don’t pick right tackles in the first round. And if Gettleman isn’t sure a guy at 28 can play left tackle, he’s not going to take him.

So here’s the second part — all that doesn’t necessarily mean the second nugget in Kiper’s update will happen.

Yes, receivers’ coach Ricky Proehl has been sent all around the country for a reason. The Panthers are turning over every wideout rock they can, not just because it’s a need, but because there’s a whole bunch of talent out there.

But once the Panthers are on the clock at 28, if someone at another position — say cornerback — is higher on Carolina’s board than a receiver, they’re going to take the one they believe gives them the best value.

Two weeks out from the draft, I can’t tell you who the Panthers are going to take. Shoot, considering all that could happen in front of them, they can’t be sure who they’re going to take.

But whether it’s Kouandjio, Virginia’s Morgan Moses or most other tackles currently mocked either late in the first round or the second, the point is a tackle sounds unlikely. The feeling I get is if Gettleman does go tackle at 28, it’ll be someone most weren’t expecting.

So there’s your “update.” I’m not sure what the Panthers are going to do, but it sure sounds like what many are expecting is something they’re not going to do.