The buzz surrounding Christian McCaffrey to the Carolina Panthers has been building non-stop over the past week.

Virtually every mock draft has the Stanford speedster heading to Carolina at No. 8 overall, and Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman raved over McCaffrey last week at the Panthers' pre-draft press conference.

But Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes it's all a lie.

"A source with knowledge of the dynamics believes the McCaffrey chatter is likely a smokescreen, one of the many that are wafting through the air like whatever Phil Simms pushed in the direction of Jim Nantz," Florio wrote. "Regardless of whether Carolina pulls the trigger, the expected range for McCaffrey currently is No. 5 through No. 15."

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Florio adds that the smokescreen is potentially being created so a team that picks ahead of the Panthers can sell its draft pick to accrue more selections in a deep draft.

What is for sure known, and not just speculation, is that the Panthers hosted McCaffrey on a pre-draft visit and head coach Ron Rivera also attended Stanford's Pro Day live in person. So, while the Panthers were probably just being thorough in their homework of the Stanford running back, they also have seen enough of him to form a valid opinion on him heading into tonight's first round.

The draft opens at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN and NFL Network.