While the Carolina Panthers starting offense did not score on their opening drive, they did punch it into the end zone on the second one.

Their final preseason game will be on Friday and rosters must be down to 53 by 6p.m., Eastern time on Sunday.

Let’s review what happened in Jacksonville.

THE REVIEW

• It was good to see Jonathon Brooks get into the end zone for the first time. He also had an 11 yard run and drew a pass interference penalty down by the goal line. Pass protection is still a work in progress as he missed a 3rd down block on the Panthers first drive. But, he did rebound on the second drive where he got hands on a blitzed and allowed Bryce Young to throw a first down strike to Tommy Tremble.
  
  If the Panthers want to win the division again, Brooks will have to be a key cog in that formula. So far, so good.

• Young didn’t take a sack on his six drop backs.

• Jimmy Horn has speed and he showed it off on a 39 yard run. It looked like he was going to take it to the house but got tripped up at the end. The Panthers need speed in light of Chris Brazzell’s season ending injury and Horn made a big case to show why he should be on the roster against Jacksonville.

  

• John Metchie III had six grabs for 77 yards. His two best plays were grabbing a tough 15 yarder in traffic to convert a first down and a 25 yard catch and run near the end of the third quarter.

• We knew Ryan Fitzgerald had a leg. We didn’t know he had range from 60 but he showed us he did by nailing a 61-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

• Young was pressured on three of his six drop backs. Getting pressured on half of your drop backs isn’t ideal for any sort of success.

RANDOM THOUGHT

Thank God David Tepper wasn’t willing to guarantee every penny of Deshaun Watson’s contract when the Panthers pursued him in March of 2022. The Cleveland Browns were willing to do so and sent Houston Texans three first-round picks, a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick to acquire his services.

The result? One of the worst trades of all-time in any sport. The city of Cleveland absolutely hates him and booed him every chance they got on Saturday.

The Matt Rule era and the 2023 season were hard enough for Panthers fans, at least they avoided the Watson disaster.

After a rough performance - especially for the offensive starters - the Carolina Panthers are back in action on Friday in Jacksonville against the Jaguars after participating in a joint practice with them on Wednesday.

At the end of the day it is preseason but you’d hope the Panthers would look a tad better than they did last week.

With that, I’ve put some general categories below with bullet points of things I’d like to see on Friday night.

NO INJURIES

The Panthers have had enough injuries and hopefully nobody else gets hurt.

OFFENSIVE STARTERS

• Get at least one first down.

  • After last week’s session, we’re setting the bar quite low here. Two first downs or more and a sustained drive would be ideal.

• Score some points.

  • A touchdown would be exquisite but a field goal will suffice.

• Don’t take a sack Bryce.

  • This will be the eighth preseason game of Bryce Young’s career. As I’ve noted in recent weeks, he’s taken at least one sack in every preseason game he has played. Sacks often get attributed to the offensive line but it is the quarterback’s responsibility to not take negative plays. I’d rather see Young throw passes away as opposed to taking a sack that potentially kills a drive.

• Jonathon Brooks

  • I thought Brooks had a chance to bust a long run early last week but the interior offensive line didn’t provide any hope of that happening. It would be awesome to see Brooks break off a run of 10 yards or longer. I’m sure last week was good for him to just take some hits and be back on the field after everything he has been through. Breaking off an explosive run could be a launching point for him.

    

• A clean operation

  • That means no penalties, especially infractions that wipe out chain moving plays.

IS THE OTHER STARTING ILB ON THIS TEAM?

• Will Trevin Wallace or Claudin Cherelus seize the other inside linebacker job? That remains to be seen. If both play poor on Friday, will Dan Morgan stand pat or try to make some sort of move to address the position?

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Hopefully the defense forces multiple punts so the Panthers can get some work done in the return game. The final receiver spots will come down to who can potentially play special teams.

QUICK POSTS

• Feleipe Franks turned some heads on Wednesday and per ESPN’s Mike Kaye, he has caught the ball consistently all summer. The Panthers signed veteran tight end Darren Waller earlier in the week and he will not play on Friday as he’s still getting acclimated.
  
  Could Franks steal a tight end spot? He’s made his bones in the NFL on special teams while transitioning from quarterback to tight end. The Panthers are clearly not thrilled with the lack of production from the position.
  
  It’s still a long shot, but Franks has an incredible opportunity ahead of him over the next few weeks.

• The offensive line depth is truly being tested during the preseason. If Hunt and Lewis play, how many snaps will they get? If the game against the Bills was any indicator, they cannot lose them for any stretch of time.

Each week I go through the Panthers cards I’ve collected over the course of my life and choose one to review.

I try to pick a card that has some relevancy to the current happenings with the team. For example, I had to go with a Luke Kuechly card when he was getting enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tight end Darren Waller officially signed with the Panthers on Monday.

There has been a lot of chatter on the tight end position for the Panthers. That chatter has not been a fun topic since Greg Olsen departed after the 2019 season. As Joseph Person of The Athletic noted on Friday:

The Panthers’ 319 receptions by tight ends are the fewest in the NFL since the start of the 2020 season, according to TruMedia’s Jason Starrett. Every other team had more than 400 catches by tight ends over the same span. The New York Jets had the second-fewest receptions with 411.

Arguably, the team hasn’t made a significant investment into the position since they traded for Olsen and signed Jeremy Shockey in 2011.

Before those two, the biggest move the Panthers made at the position was signing Wesley Walls in 1996.

With all the tight end talk, we had to go with Wesley Walls as our Panthers card of the week.

1996 Collectors Choice Update Wesley Walls, #U107

I have other cards of Walls but this is the year he signed with the Panthers. The photo appears to have been taken during training camp or some sort of offseason workout.

Walls was a priority free agent for the Panthers that February.

Walls’ career began with the San Francisco 49ers. He was the 56th overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He only caught 11 passes for 67 yards and one touchdown in five seasons with the 49ers. He did play in every game his rookie season, when the 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV. Walls caught one pass for nine yards in the Super Bowl.

Walls went to NFC West rival New Orleans in 1994. In two seasons with the Saints, he had 95 receptions for 1,010 yards and 8 touchdowns.

The tight end production from the Panthers in their expansion season was scant to say the least. Four tight ends combined to produce 30 catches for 272 yards and three touchdowns.

Most of that production came from 35-year-old Pete Metzelaars. He caught 20 passes for 171 yards and all three touchdowns. Ironically enough, Metzelaars is the answer to the trivia question on the card.

After a strong finish to the 1995 season, the Panthers needed to get better on offense to pair with their ascending defense.

They already took one player away from the Saints the year before in Sam Mills. Why not double dip?

Walls’ visit to Carolina that February coincided with another priority free agent - all pro cornerback Eric Davis - who was Walls’ teammate in San Francisco from 90-92.

Both players signed with the Panthers on Tuesday, February 20th, 1996.

“The Panthers plan to make him a primary target in their passing offense this season” the back of the card reads.

When he signed, Walls told Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer “New Orleans matched the money but what they couldn't match was the chance for me to maximize my opportunity. I can be the man here.”

Walls was indeed the man in Carolina and the primary target of the passing offense.

In 1996, he led the team in targets (111), receptions (61), first downs (44), touchdowns (10) and was second in yardage (713) as the Panthers finished 12-4 and won the NFC West.

He scored the first playoff touchdown in team history on a 1-yard pass at home in the Panthers 26-17 victory over the defending champions Dallas Cowboys.

Walls played seven productive years in Carolina and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Honor in 2019.

Darren Waller likely won’t put up the numbers Walls did when he arrived in Carolina at this point in his career. However, fans hope they get to see another tight end in the mold of Walls line up for the Panthers soon.

PREVIOUS PANTHERS FOOTBALL CARD OF THE WEEK ENTRIES

August 8, 2026: Luke Kuechly
July 27, 2026: Sam Mills
July 19, 2026: Armanti Edwards

Three drives. Nine plays. Seventeen yards. Zero points. Zero first downs.

The hope was for the starters to play 10 to 20 snaps but they stunk it up so badly Head Coach Dave Canales didn’t send them back out there for a fourth drive.

For whatever reason, Young and the Panthers starting offense finds a way to play absolutely dreadful football at least once each August.

In 2023, Young and the starters had 16 total yards on three drives against the Jets and didn’t score a point.

In 2025, they had three total yards on six plays at Houston and didn’t score a point.

At least they had one first down in the aforementioned games (even if the one in Houston came via penalty.)

But to not even get one first down? Not even against Buffalo’s backups?

“Obviously not the start we wanted, not the drives you wanted,” Young said afterwards. “It’s part of the process. You know, a lot of moving parts. Wasn’t able to execute today.”

Starting guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt Saturday didn’t play in Buffalo on Saturday and that definitely showed up on film.

“You know, overall just the story was in the trenches,” Canales said afterwards. “It was the run game. The line of scrimmage, those types of things.”

We’ll have to see how the Panthers play once those two are back in the lineup. The worry is that the Panthers sloppiness on the offensive side of the ball bleeds into the regular season again.

To refresh your memory, here are the Panthers 1st half point totals in weeks 1/2 since Young’s rookie season in 2023: Seven, three, three, zero, three and three.

They finished those games with 10, 17, 10, 3, 10 and 22 points - and most importantly - they lost each game.

Digging out of an 0-2 hole is extremely difficult. Doing it this year against this schedule will be a taller task.

Inconsistency has been a staple of the Panthers offense since drafting Young. Eliminating that inconsistency is one of the biggest things the Panthers need to see from Young this season if they’re going to ink him for the long term.

Every team puts up a stinker. But for the Panthers, these performances aren’t few and far between in the preseason and regular season.

Luckily for them, it’s still August. But, September will be here in a flash.

Signs of a pass rush

Jaelan Phillips and Princely Umanmielen were instrumental in forcing Buffalo to kick a field goal on their first offensive drive of the game. They were able to do that without Derrick Brown.

Umanmielen had three pressures and Phillips parlayed one of those into a sack.

Trevis Gipson was credited with a half sack but should’ve had at least 1.5 but he grabbed Josh Allen’s facemark to negate a third down sack. Cam Gill got into the action as well with one.

Offensive line depth concerns

The Panthers offensive line depth was already being tested at the tackle position given the circumstances with Taylor Moton and Ickey Ekwonu.

If Saturday was any indication, they simply cannot lose starting guards Robert Hunt or Damien Lewis for any extended period of time.

Brady Christensen and Chandler Zavala started in their place and it did not go well. The organization knows how important it is to have Hunt and Lewis ready to go for the regular season given the current state of the line.

We’ll have to see how - or if - the Panthers utilize them in the next two preseason games.

Other quick hitter thoughts

• I think Ja’seem Reed is going to make this team.

• Aaron Hall is making his case as well.

• The Panthers didn’t force a single punt. Clearly, that’s never a good thing. But what makes this worse is that they didn’t get a chance to evaluate any potential returners on Saturday. The final roster spots will come down to who can contribute on special teams, especially for the receiver room. They’ll have to hope the defense can force a punt next week in Jacksonville.

• Young was sacked once on Saturday. He has been sacked at least once in all seven preseason games he has played.

  Thanks for reading Panthers Pulse! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The starters will play 10 to 20 snaps per Head Coach Dave Canales.

Here’s what I’ll be watching for on Saturday.

How will Bryce Young fare?

Young’s preseason performances in the past - like the rest of the team - are nothing to write home about.

The most snaps he’s played in a single preseason game is 21, which happened in the final contest of the 2023 preseason.

Here are his preseason totals by year:

• 2023: 14-of-24, 129 yards, 1 TD, 3 sacks taken [7 total drives, 50 plays, 13 points]

• 2024: 6-of-8, 70 yards, 1 TD, 1 sack taken [1 total drive, 12 plays, 7 points]

• 2025: 4-of-8, 58 yards, 1 TD, 2 sacks taken [4 total drives, 18 plays, 7 points]

The last time we saw Young play in preseason, he was getting harassed by the Houston Texans defense. Young didn’t complete either of his two pass attempts and the Panthers didn’t score a single point.

One thing I’d like to see Saturday is Young avoid taking a sack. Young has taken a sack in every preseason game he has played.

Sack avoidance was one area Young improved in during the 2025 season. Per FTN’s 2026 Football Almanac, Young’s adjusted sack rate dropped from 7.5 percent in 2024 to just 6.1 percent in 2025.

Based on reports from the beat writers covering the team, Young has been sharp all camp.

Will the sharp play continue or mirror what we’ve seen in preseason past?

How many carries will Jonathon Brooks get?

It was announced on Thursday that Chuba Hubbard is week-to-week with a hamstring injury.

Canales said that Brooks will start. I’m looking forward to seeing him back on the field and I’m sure he’s ready to be back out there for live game action.

Will there be extra fire from the tight ends?

The Panthers will add veteran Darren Waller to their roster after the conclusion of Saturday’s game.

Waller showed he still had plenty in the tank last season and the Panthers got to see it in person. Waller caught five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers in Week 5 last season.

Waller turns 34 in a few weeks. In order, the Panthers top three tight ends on the depth chart are Tommy Tremble (26), Mitchell Evans (23) and Ja’Tavion Sanders (23).

Sanders being third on the initial depth chart doesn’t seem like a good sign for him. Could the third year tight end be on the roster bubble?

I don’t think the Panthers will keep four tight ends.

Will his signing add a sense of urgency from the tight ends on Saturday?

Other notes

• Monroe Freeling has held his own in camp. He isn’t going to win every rep but I’m ready to see him get live game action.

• Xavier Legette has had a solid camp per the beat reporters out at camp. Let’s see how he begins year three.

The Carolina Panthers got to play in the Hall of Fame Game Thursday night for one big reason.

Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke!

Luke Kuechly will be enshrined as the 386th member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame today.

It should come as no surprise that Kuechly is the third member to be featured into the Panthers Football Card of the Week series!

2014 Bowman Chrome Luke Kuechly, #13

“With the ninth pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select, Luke Kuechly, linebacker, Boston College.”

Did I think the Panthers drafted a Hall of Famer when they took about two seconds to turn in the card to take Kuechly in 2012?

You never think someone’s going to be a Hall of Famer, but I felt like he’d be a pretty good player.

Clearly he was much better than I ever envisioned and it was awesome to watch at home and in the stadium.

As the back of the card says, “Luke excels as a run stuffer. He also has the speed and motor to cover receivers and snuff out plays from the back side.”

I was lucky enough to be at the game where Kuechly recorded his first interception at home against the Seahawks in 2012. I was also at the final game of his career - which none of us knew was coming - in 2019.

He was the Defensive Rookie of the year in 2012 and named First or Second Team All-Pro every year after that.

As far as a favorite Kuechly memory, how can you choose just one?

His 24 tackle performance against the Saints in the rain to help the Panthers clinch their first division title in five seasons was superb.

He had one interception and forced another to help the Panthers win a playoff game in 2014.

His performance on Thanksgiving in 2015 will always be memorable. He intercepted Tony Romo on back to back plays, returning the first one for a touchdown and adding a stiff arm as he crossed the goal line.

His interception returns for touchdowns in the playoff games against the Seahawks and Cardinals made the stadium shake. I attended both games and was on the end zone side for each touchdown.

It’s fitting that he’s going into the Hall of Fame with one of the best classes of all time. Drew Brees, Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald and Adam Vinatieri.

Kuechly’s career - like life - went by in a flash. You have to appreciate greatness when you see it. Kuechly wasn’t just great on the field, by all accounts he’s one of the best people you’ll meet.

His 8-year career may be considered short by many, but his impact on and off the field will be everlasting.

And what a way to see it back in action after the Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals 33-30 on a rushing touchdown as time expired.

It was the second highest scoring contest in Hall of Fame Game history.

From the Panthers perspective, the story of the game was undrafted rookie quarterback Haynes King.

King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards, threw for two touchdowns and added another 39 yards on the ground with the game winning rushing touchdown.

Preseason defensive installs are extremely vanilla. Reasonable people should not come away from last night’s contest thinking King is a budding superstar.

However, King still took advantage of his opportunity. He showed why he was a priority undrafted free agent for the Panthers.

What King’s performance did do is potentially force the Panthers into an extremely difficult decision on roster cutdown day,

The Panthers have not kept three quarterbacks on the active roster since Dan Morgan and Dave Canales took over in 2024.

If King strings together similar performances over the next three weeks of practices and preseason games, would the Panthers make him the backup to Bryce Young over Kenny Pickett?

The answer is still likely no. But, last night certainly made it a possible outcome once camp concludes. There’s still a long way to go over the coming weeks.

The Panthers had to sweat out Jalen Coker clearing waivers when they cut him in 2024.

After putting up that performance on national television, the odds of King clearing waivers would likely be extremely low if he were cut.

Back in February, Dan Morgan said: “I do think that we want to get a little younger and a little more athletic at that backup quarterback spot.”

Pickett seemed like the lock to be the backup when he was signed but King’s performance might make them reconsider.

Some additional thoughts

• I appreciate the Panthers going for the win and not ending the game on a tie.

• AJ Dillon has had a tough road over the last two seasons. He missed all of 2024 with an injury and didn’t play much in Philadelphia in 2025. It was good to see him get into the end zone.

• The battle for the final receiver spot is going to come down to the wire. Metchie, Horn and Reed all made big plays last night. Horn’s night could’ve been larger had King not air mailed him wide open in the end zone.

• Football is back and that’s a great thing. Enjoy the ride.

  Thanks for reading Panthers Pulse! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

If you enjoy old school linebacker play, then watch the 1996 Carolina Panthers.

They started four excellent linebackers. On the outside, you had Kevin Greene and Lamar Lathon.

In the middle, you had Carlton Bailey and the man that is the inspiration for the card of the week, Sam Mills.

1996 Skybox Impact “Inspirations” Sam Mills, #191

The inaugural “Panthers Football Card of the Week” was tied to my first training camp memory and the 2010 season.

There has been enough bad news in Panthers land over the last week so let’s remember some good times and the man that is the definition of “Keep Pounding.”

If you’re a Panthers fan, you know all about what Mills means to the franchise. It’s cliche to say it, but he played football the way it should be played.

Mills was a major factor in the team winning their first ever game as a franchise with his interception return for a touchdown against the Jets.

This card was from the 1996 season and that was a pretty good year for the Carolina Panthers. They went 12-4, winning the NFC West, won their first ever playoff game at home against the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys before falling to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.

Mills was superb that year. He had 122 tackles (90 solo), 5.5 sacks, 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

In the playoffs, he had the game clinching interception against the Cowboys and his interception against the Packers set up their first offensive touchdown in the NFC Championship game.

He was selected to the Pro Bowl and was a first-team All Pro. He did all that in his age 37 season.

The other reason I wanted to highlight Mills is because a new book on his life and playing career was released this week. Paul Domowtich, a longtime Philadelphia sportswriter and author, wrote a book entitled Just Give Me a Chance to Fail: The Life of NFL Linebacker Sam Mills.

Domowitch covered Mills when he was with the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL.

I just received my copy of the book and will provide a review once I’m done reading it. Here are excerpts from the book on Domowitch’s Tush Push SubStack:

1. When Sam Mills Needed Somebody To Stand Up For Him, Vince Tobin Was There.

2. The Sam Mills Effect

3. ‘Keep Pounding’

Mills’ story has plenty of valuable life lessons. The man kept chasing his dream and succeeded. He didn’t enter the NFL until he was 27 years old because everyone thought he was too small. It was quite fitting that the card makers decided to include Mills in their Inspirations subset.

Mills kept pounding through it all and that legacy will continue to live on.

The Panthers were already swimming upstream to a degree before players even reported to camp. Starting left tackle Ikem Ekwonu tore his patellar tendon in January’s playoff loss and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton underwent neck surgery in the offseason.

Tuesday brought news that Taylor Moton will miss time due to a blood clot that was uncovered in his lung and that Jaycee Horn would begin camp on the NFI list due to a cut on his foot.

Wednesday revealed that defensive tackle Bobby Brown would join Horn on the NFI list with a hamstring injury.

The flood gates opened on Thursday as second year edge rusher Nic Scourton tore his right ACL.

Horn and Brown are expected to return during camp while Moton should return in the regular season. That’s likely not going to be the case for Scourton.

Scourton had a solid rookie season and was primed for a bigger one in year two. He posted five sacks, 28 pressures and three quarterback hits as a rookie. The signing of Jaelan Phillips should’ve have freed him up to do more damage.

Alex Zietlow of The Charlotte Observer wrote in June that Pro Football Focus showed that Scourton was double teamed on 34.62 percent of his pass rushes and tripled team on 2.96 percent of them. With Phillips’ addition, teams would not be able to double both on every play.

On Wednesday, Dan Morgan spoke about the importance of depth.

When asked about the things that gave him the most optimism that things were headed in the right direction, Morgan said:

“I think if you look at our roster our depth has gotten a lot better, our talent has got a lot better and I think the culture in the locker room and in the building I think is in a really good place right now.”

That depth Morgan referred to is going to be tested in the early stages of camp, especially if Brown is unable to return soon from his hamstring.

A key depth piece that’ll likely see an increased role after Scourton’s injury is second year edge rusher Princely Umanmielen. He had 1.5 sacks, two hits and three pressures in his first season.

While the Panthers have improved their overall talent, no team can suffer injuries at this pace.

There’s still 51 days until the season opener, so the Panthers have plenty of time to work things out.

But Thursday was a massive blow for them and one that will be extremely tough to overcome.

Plenty of eyes will be on Jonathon Brooks, Monroe Freeling and the other offensive skill positions. However, more eyes should be watching the defensive tackles.

There are eight defensive tackles listed on the Panthers official roster as of Wednesday evening, but two veterans will not be available to start camp.

It was announced in May that Tershawn Wharton had neck surgery. He is starting camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and there is no timetable on his return.

At his annual pre-training camp press conference on Wednesday, President of Football Operations and General Manager Dan Morgan announced that veteran defensive tackle Bobby Brown III will begin camp on the non-football injury (NFI) list with a hamstring injury.

“I don’t really have a timeline on it but hopefully he’s back sooner than later,” said Morgan.

That leaves the Panthers with six active defensive tackles on the roster. The group is led by seventh year stud Derrick Brown.

After Brown, the remaining depth doesn’t have a ton of experience as there are four rookies - three undrafted - and one player entering his second season. Given the lack of experience, it’s understandable why Morgan hopes that Brown is able to return “sooner than later.”

That second year player is 2025 fifth round pick Cam Jackson. Jackson played in nine games as a rookie, registering two solo tackles and seven assists.

The only drafted rookie of the bunch is Lee Hunter, a player the Panthers traded up two spots to get in the second round of April’s draft.

Although no padded practices have taken place yet, Hunter has already drawn praise from Panthers right guard Robert Hunt.

“He’s very stout,” Hunt said of Hunter. “He doesn’t look like a rookie to me. OTAs - obviously we didn’t have pads on. I think he plays the run really really well, better than I probably seen a rookie in a long time.”

“Definitely got a lot of good feedback on how strong he is [and] how physical he is,” Morgan said of Hunter. “He’s quick off the ball. He’s quicker than you think. He’s more mobile than you think. So a lot of good feedback and another young rookie that we’re excited about, looking forward to seeing him compete out there.”

The rest of the Panthers defensive tackle room is made up of three undrafted free agents. They are Aaron Hall of Duke, Tywone Malone of Ohio State and Parker Petersen of Wisconsin.

When asked by Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer back in May about rookies that stood out, Jackson mentioned Hall. “I did not know he was that twitchy,” Jackson said of Hall.

Malone was part of Ole Miss’ baseball team that won the College World Series in 2022 and then he was part of the Ohio State Buckeyes team that won the 2024 College Football Playoff.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote the following on Malone in his annual draft guide called The Beast:

“Though his pass-rush moves are underdeveloped, he has functional long arms that can put guards on skates (see the 2025 Indiana tape). Despite playing next to a block-eater in Kayden McDonald, he struggled to win quickly and make stops in the backfield. Overall, Malone didn’t put a ton of impact plays on film, but he was an underrated and important component of the Buckeyes’ stout run defense in 2025.”

In Brugler’s pre-draft defensive tackle positional rankings, Hall was 34th, Malone 39th and Petersen 100th.

The Hall of Fame Game is exactly two weeks away. It’s very possible the Panthers add some depth to the room if Brown isn’t able to come back as soon as the team hopes.

Jackson and the undrafted defensive tackles should get a ton of playing time in Canton.

All undrafted players have a major uphill battle to climb to make an active roster in the NFL. They typically don’t get many opportunities and have to make their impact in limited reps.

However, this group of undrafted defensive tackles will get plenty of chances and it all starts on Thursday.

While it stinks to hear about that diagnosis, at least the blood clot was uncovered so he could begin treatment.

Darin Gantt of Panthers.com said Moton was placed on blood thinners immediately and that he has responded well to treatment so far after the diagnosis in late June.

Hopefully Moton will continue to respond well to treatment and have a full recovery.

It sucked to hear that news while driving home on Tuesday afternoon.

There have been plenty of down times over the last decade for the Panthers, but Moton has always been a beacon of professionalism and reliability.

I don’t recall any complaints from Moton during the really bad times and it was awesome to see him be able to get back to the playoffs last season.

Moton has missed four total games in his nine year career. He played in 120 consecutive games, starting 104 until he finally missed a start due to injury in 2024.

The Panthers offensive line was in a state of chaos most of last season, starting 12 different groups. Moton played in 16 of 17 regular season games.

The team knew they would be without left tackle Ikem Ekwonu for some or possibly all of this season after he ruptured his patellar tendon in the playoff loss to the Rams.

Luckily the Panthers invested resources into the position during the offseason with the signing of Rasheed Walker and drafting Monroe Freeling in April.

Replacing Moton won’t be easy. I assume Walker will start out at left tackle with Freeling on the right side.

According to the team, Moton is expected to return during the regular season. While that’s great to hear, who knows when that might happen. Clearly Moton’s longterm health supersedes when he may play football again.

From a football perspective, the offensive line is filled with plenty of veterans to try and help bring Freeling up to speed. Will there be some rough patches? Absolutely, no team or player wins every rep.

While Moton’s absence will be felt, the Panthers have put resources into the group. Additionally, the team had plenty of practice last season on dealing with uncertainty and hopefully that makes Moton’s absence sting a tad less while he recovers.

Notable note, a wonder, advice & a small prediction

• The Panthers also announced that starting cornerback Jaycee Horn and rookie reserve Jaylon Guilbeau would start camp on the non-football injury list. Horn suffered a cut on his foot while running and is expected to return during camp.

• I’m assuming Dan Morgan will address the media at some point on Wednesday or Thursday as he has done the previous two training camps. Last year, he read from a prepared statement, which I found to be odd and out of character for him. When he addresses the media this year, will he do it again?

• It’s awesome that football is back. There’s still 53 days until the season opener at home against the Chicago Bears. Don’t live and die with every training camp video posted to the social media. More importantly, don’t form any opinion on how the season will play out based on a 10 second video clip. Let things play out and just enjoy the fact that football is back.

• My preseason pick for player that breaks out this season? Jonathon Brooks is the trendy pick for many, but I’m going to go with second year tight end Mitchell Evans. Hauling in 19 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns as a fifth round rookie is nothing to sneer at. I think Evans becomes a reliable target for Young this season and will become the first Panthers tight end since Greg Olsen to earn at least 50 targets in a season.

  Thanks for reading Panthers Pulse! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

I’m always reminded of the first time I ever went to training camp at this time of year.

It was 2010. As usual, it was hot and humid down at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. As far as how the Panthers practiced that day, I should’ve trusted my eyes a bit more on how that season would play out.

That day, the Panthers couldn’t do squat offensively. You may remember that team, they went 2-14 with the most dreadful offense in team history.

They finished dead last in yards gained and points scored. They scored 196 points, an average of 12.25 per game, scoring 20 or more only twice.

You may remember that was the season before the lockout and making large investments wasn’t an option at the time for then owner Jerry Richardson.

Matt Moore began the season at quarterback but was hurt in the opener. Jimmy Claussen started the next three games. He suffered a concussion at the end of that third start. Instead of starting sixth round rookie Tony Pike, Head Coach John Fox opted to sign Brian St. Pierre off the couch. Instead of changing diapers that week, St. Pierre started in a loss at home to the Baltimore Ravens.

While that season was one of the worst in franchise history, it did lead to them landing the No. 1 pick and taking quarterback Cam Newton.

While Newton was electrifying from the start, that hasn’t been the case for the Panthers other quarterback they took at No. 1 overall in Bryce Young.

Some of Young’s starts were very 2010 Panthers-esque, especially the first two games of the 2024 season that led to him being benched and had people questioning if he’d ever play for the team again.

This will be year four for Young and there is plenty at stake. The Panthers have ranked 31st, 23rd and 27th in points scored in three seasons.

He eclipsed the 3,000 yard passing marker for the first time last season by 11 yards. The organization is 14-30 in games he has started.

We all know his rookie season was an outright disaster and the blame cannot be pinned squarely on him. His play was awful but the organization was a complete dumpster fire at the time.

He has shown improvement since he returned from being benched in 2024 but is still too inconsistent.

Despite the inconsistencies, his teammates believe in him. Young turns 25 on Saturday. His play this season against one of the toughest schedules in the league likely determines whether or not the Panthers decide to give him a big extension.

There are still plenty of skeptics on his long-term outlook.

If Young turns in performances akin to those 2010 Panthers or his first 18 starts as a pro, then there won’t be much debate on what to do.

But if he can elevate the offense and get the organization back to the playoffs, it should turn more people into believers and make the Panthers contract extension decision a bit easier.

Random Numbers

• 8: The number of consecutive seasons the Panthers have had a negative point differential. It would be beneficial for the Panthers to snap this streak so the Edward Rooney “nine times” sound clip doesn't have to be put on repeat around here.
  
  Eight consecutive seasons is bad but there are teams with current streaks longer than that! Their division rivals down Interstate 85 in Atlanta have also gone eight consecutive seasons with a negative point differential. The worst current streaks reside in New Jersey. The New York Giants are at nine straight seasons while the New York Jets are at 10.

• 12: The number of offensive line combinations the Panthers had to use in 2025 due to injuries. Most of the shuffling happened at right guard given the torn biceps injury Robert Hunt suffered in week two. Brady Christensen was resigned last week to add additional depth to the room. Christensen was part of the revolving door last season until he tore his Achilles against Buffalo.
  
  The Panthers have invested a ton into the offensive line after Young was sacked 62 times in 2023. Hopefully this position group avoids the injury bug they experienced a season ago.

• 15.7%: The percentage of three-and-out’s from the Panthers offense in 2025 per Aaron Schatz’s FTN Football Almanac for 2026. While the Panthers offense was still below average, their three-and-out percentage was third best in the league in 2026 per FTN.

Panthers Football Card of the Week
2010 Topps Armanti Edwards RC; #315

If I’m going to discuss the 2010 Panthers in my writing, then it’s imperative to make my inaugural Panthers football card of the week from someone on that team.

Armanti Edwards was a college legend, best known for leading Appalachian State’s upset at Michigan in 2007.

The back of his rookie card read:

“The Panthers dealt their second-round pick in 2011 to snag Armanti, a two-time winner of the Walter Payton Award as the top player in FCS. The record-setting college quarterback will be groomed as a wide receiver and return man in the NFL. Edwards’ game-breaking speed and elusiveness in the open field should translate well to his new roles.”

If you’re a Panthers fan, you know that none of those things happened for Edwards.

This transaction is one that still stings many fans. Then general manager Marty Hurney thought so much of Edwards that he traded away the Panthers 2011 second round pick to the New England Patriots to select Edwards at No. 89 overall in the third round of the 2010 draft.

Yes, Hurney traded a future second rounder to take someone near the end of the third round. That second rounder was the No. 33 overall pick in 2011.

It was at the time - and still is - one of the most perplexing moves in Panthers history.

This is nothing against Edwards as he had no control on who drafted him.

They tried to convert Edwards to wide receiver and it just didn’t work. Edwards played in 39 games as a Panther and never scored a touchdown. He caught five passes for 121 yards on 15 total targets.

Most of his career production came on one play at Washington in 2012, an 82 yard reception down the left sideline.

Edwards finished his career in Cleveland and being cut by the Panthers during the 2013 season.

The trade up for Edwards was one of two such moves Hurney made that was ultimately part of ending his first tenure as Panthers general manager. In 2009, he traded away the team’s 2010 first rounder to take Everette Brown in the second round.

It didn’t work, but at least Edwards had one big highlight in a game the Panthers won.

Idzik’s play sequencing may heavily depend on how the running back group fares.

Rico Dowdle, last year’s leading rusher and celebration pump master, went to Pittsburgh in free agency.

The Panthers only additions to the room was adding AJ Dillon in free agency and undrafted free agent Miles Davis out of Utah State.

Veteran Chuba Hubbard is arguably coming off his worst season in most basic and advanced metrics. Hubbard was replaced as the primary back shortly after returning from his calf injury that sidelined him for two games. Hubbard said he likely rushed his return from the injury.

He turned 134 carries into 511 yards (3.8 YPC) and one touchdown. His longest run of the season was 14 yards, which occurred in week 2. Hubbard did catch 39 passes for 224 yards and scored three receiving touchdowns. Hubbard’s carries and rushing yardage total were the second lowest of his career while his one rushing touchdown was the lowest.

The biggest question in the room is how will Jonathan Brooks look coming back from his ACL tear from December 2025?

The Panthers traded up six spots to get Brooks in the second round of the 2024 draft. To move from No. 52 to No. 46, the Panthers gave up two fifth rounders in picks 142 and 155. That is a significant draft capital investment for a non-premium position, especially one that was coming off a December 2023 ACL tear. Two fifth rounders may not seem like a huge cost, but the Panthers were coming off their worst season of all-time and negligence with draft capital was a contributor.

Brooks only had nine carries in 2024 before tearing his ACL on that final one. If Brooks is able to regain the form he had at Texas, it would be a major boon on how the offense can operate.

Brooks did participate in Panthers OTAs and members of the defense had high marks on what they saw.

“He’s super quick. He’s getting in and out of his cuts. It’s ridiculous,” Nic Scourton told Joe Person of The Athletic at the beginning of June.

Jaycee Horn told Person,“I forgot how fast he is. He had a couple plays where he turned on the jets. He’s probably the guy I’m most excited to see coming back.”

Will the Panthers ease Brooks into the action in training camp or turn him loose? That remains to be seen.

Trevor Etienne seems locked into the third spot on the depth chart entering his second season. He carried the ball 20 times for 94 yards. He didn’t register a carry in 11 games and was primarily used as a returner. As a returner, he fumbled three times, losing two of them.

After missing the entire 2024 season due to a neck stinger, Dillon registered just 12 carries in Philadelphia last season playing behind Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby.

If the running back room cannot provide the boost Dowdle did last season, the Panthers will have to rely heavily on the passing attack. Bryce Young eclipsed 3,000 yards passing for the first time in his career last season by 11 yards.

Brooks is likely the most important player in the room. The fact that the Panthers didn’t make any major additions sends a message that they feel great with where he’s at. If he adds the explosive element the running game needs and Hubbard plays more to his 2024 form, then the Panthers will have a lot of options offensively.

If the running game falters, then Young will have to carry the load and he has not shown he can do that on a consistent basis yet.

Targets are merely an opportunity to catch a pass. We’re not even talking about actual receptions.

The league shifted to a 17 game regular season schedule in 2021. For those that are mathematically inclined, that was five years ago.

Greg Olsen was the last Panthers tight end to earn more than 50 targets in a season. He had 82 targets in his final season with the team in 2019.

Since Olsen was released in January 2020, the closest a Panther has gotten to the 50 target mark was Ja’Tavion Sanders, who had 43 during his rookie season in 2024.

Tommy Tremble led the Panthers with 37 targets during the 2025 season, followed by Sanders with 34 and 25 from rookie Mitchell Evans.

Last season, 40 tight ends earned more targets than Tremble, the Panthers leader in that category. Eight teams had two tight ends that earned more targets than any Panther. The Steelers had three tight ends earn more targets than any Panther in 2025.

Six other teams did not have a tight end hit 50 targets in 2025. Those teams were Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, and Miami.

Injuries to Sam LaPorta, Tucker Kraft and Darren Waller prevented Detroit, Green Bay and Miami (likely) from reaching the 50 target mark for an individual. Buffalo had two tight ends earn 49 targets each while Cincinnati’s top two tight ends had 42 and 41 respectively.

Will a Panther hit the 50 target mark in 2026? To get to 50, a player would need to average 2.94 targets per game.

The Panthers ask a lot of their tight ends and they don’t want a one trick pony at the position. At the 2025 NFL Combine, Head Coach Dave Canales said this about what he wants in his tight end group per Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer:

“Versatility and toughness, first and foremost. We’re going to run the ball, so we certainly can’t just take receiving tight ends who give you no value in the run game. At a minimum, this has to be a guy that’s really tough. It doesn’t mean that he’s got to be the 260-pound bruiser that plays in-line. Those guys are cool, too, but if he’s going to be 235 pounds, he has to play with the level of violence because we are going to run the ball a lot. So the versatility is really important for me at the tight end.”

Tremble is the seasoned veteran of this group and does the things Canales spoke of. He had 27 catches for 249 yards and two TD’s while playing 56.9% of the Panthers snaps. The receiving yards and snap percentage were career highs. He also had a career long reception of 54 yards, which accounted for 21.7 percent of his receiving production last season.

Tremble is athletic and reliable. He has played 16 or 17 games in all but one season since entering the league in 2021.

He is the No. 1 tight end on the Panthers depth chart.

Sanders, the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart, missed four games due to ankle injuries. He suffered a sprained ankle in week 3 which caused him to miss the next three weeks and then broke his ankle in the second to last game of the season. Despite missing four games, Sanders still led the Panthers with 29 catches and added 190 receiving yards and 1 TD while playing 35.7% of the team’s offensive snaps.

Sanders likely would’ve surprised his rookie season reception total if not for the injuries.

The No. 3 tight end saw action in all 17 games as a rookie. Evans hauled in 19 receptions for 171 yards and 2 TD’s while playing 34.3% of the snaps. Evans had the game winning touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. That is not a bad season for a fifth round rookie.

With a much more difficult schedule, perhaps the Panthers are forced to pass more.

Canales gave up play calling duties to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik during the offseason.

Will the change at play caller lead to a Panthers tight end getting more than 50 targets?

That remains to be seen. The Panthers certainly believe in this group as their only offseason addition to the tight end room was to bring back Feleipe Franks.

Having a reliable tight end is always a great thing for a quarterback to have. When the NFL lockout was lifted in 2011, the first thing then Panthers general manager did was sign Jeremy Shockey and trade for Olsen.

If the Panthers play similar to what they did the previous two years, it may be a challenge for one of the tight ends to hit that 50 target mark.

But if they do pass more, it would be great for them to see one of these tight ends make the leap.

As we inch closer to the Panthers reporting to camp, let’s take a look at some numbers.

Putrid first halves

Seven, three, three, zero, three and three.

Those figures represent the number of points the Panthers scored in first half of weeks 1 and 2 since Bryce Young’s rookie season in 2023.

They finished each of those games with the following point totals: 10, 17, 10, 3, 10 and 22.

Yes, the Panthers have scored exactly 10 points in each of their last three season openers.

Not surprisingly, the Panthers lost all six games. They haven’t won a game in week 1 or 2 since 2021, when they started 3-0 and ultimately cratered to a 5-12 record under Matt Rhule.

As the point totals indicate, the Panthers offense has been nothing short of disastrous in these games. The Panthers have also been careless with the football. They’ve turned the ball over 14 times and taken 16 sacks over the opening two weeks of the season since 2023.

Head Coach Dave Canales turned play calling over to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik in the offseason.

With one of the hardest schedules in the league, the Panthers cannot afford another 0-2 start out of the gate.

Win totals

Speaking of schedules, the Panthers have the third toughest in the league according to Warren Sharp.

Over under win prop bets have been released by the sports books and most of them have the Panthers number at 6.5 or 7.5.

Some have cited the 6.5 number as a sign of disrespect for the Panthers.

In reality, that number is probably correct.

To understand why, let’s review the Panthers 2025 season.

They went 8-9. They have not had a winning season since 2017.

Seven of their eight victories were by one possession. Six were by three points or less. The outlier of the group was the 30-0 victory against the Falcons in week 3.

The Panthers lost six of their nine games by double digits, four of those by 14 or more. The others were lost by two, three and five points.

If the Panthers offense can become more consistent, then surpassing that total is definitely a possibility. But if they continue to be the inconsistent bunch they’ve been, it’s going to be a struggle to surpass six wins.

Morgan has drafted 15 players in total, which is a small sample size compared to other tenured GM’s.

Nine of his 15 draft picks have come from the SEC. He’s also selected two each from the Big Ten, Big XII and one from the Pac XII/Notre Dame.

He has yet to select a player from outside the power leagues.

Per ClevAnalytics’ 2026 GM Command Center, Morgan has also refrained from choosing older players. The average age of Morgan’s draft picks has been 22.2, which is second amongst 25 active GM’s. Additionally, 40 percent of the Panthers selections have been aged 22 or lower.

While athleticism and high Relative Athletic Scores was a trait valued by the prior regime, the average RAS for Morgan’s draft picks is 7.4. He has only selected two players with a known RAS over 9.0: Xavier Legette and Trevin Wallace.

Morgan has also selected five players that the Panthers have hosted as part of their 30 pre-draft visits, including first round picks Legette and Tetairoa McMillan.

Excluding pre-draft deals, Morgan has made six trades during his two drafts. He has traded up four times and down twice.

Will it be a premium position again? Premium positions are considered quarterback, edge rusher, offensive tackle, wide receiver, and cornerback.

From a wide receiver perspective, the Panthers met with wide receiver KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Omar Cooper, players often in the first round of mock drafts.

I covered it earlier, but would the Panthers take a wide receiver in the first round three years in a row? I do believe Morgan would do it given the lack of additions in free agency and Legette’s on field play.

Of the three they’ve met with, I do believe Concepcion is definitely the favorite given the home run ability he has.

The Panthers also met with cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Chris Johnson. They do have Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson but you can’t have enough people who can cover.

McCoy’s medicals are of major concern to a number of teams per reports and it’s possible he falls out of the first round completely per NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero.

Would that preclude the Panthers from drafting McCoy in round 1? They did draft running back Jonathon Brooks in the second round in 2024 coming off of a torn ACL. Brooks retore the ACL and has yet to make an impact on the field.

Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor also met with the Panthers. We covered the possibility of the Panthers targeting a tackle.

Would Morgan draft a non-premium position in the first round? They met with Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. He would immediately start across from Tre'von Moehrig.

The Vikings have been linked with Thieneman and pick one spot ahead of the Panthers. If they want him, they’ll likely need to move up and Morgan isn’t afraid to go get his guy given what he’s done in the past.

So Dan, what’ll it be?

I have no inside intel but my gut tells me that there will be a run on offensive tackles, the Panthers will trade down to the mid 20’s and draft Concepcion.

It might seem like something is solid for the foreseeable future but that can change instantly.

Teams are always in need of good offensive linemen, even if you have a solid starting five.

Prior to their playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Carolina Panthers probably had offensive line as an upcoming offseason need but not a priority.

That need became a priority with 9 minutes 49 seconds to play in the first quarter of that game when starting left tackle Ickey Ekwonu went down with what ended up being a torn patellar tendon.

Ekwonu’s injury stung on multiple fronts. For Ekwonu, he was due for a big pay day and extension.

For the Panthers, it led to uncertainty at one of the most important positions on the field.

More uncertainty was thrown the Panthers way when backup swing tackle Yosh Nijman retired.

Right tackle Taylor Moton just turned 32 years old and it isn’t clear on how much longer he plans to play.

The Panthers signed former Raiders tackle Stone Forsythe and Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker to one-year deals in the opening week of free agency to address the position.

Here are the current offensive tackles on the Panthers roster as of April 20, 2026: Ekwonu, Forsythe, Moton and Walker.

It seems likely the Panthers will address the position again in the draft given the state of the room.

The question with offensive tackle is how many will be available and will there be a run on them before the Panthers go on the clock at No. 19?

Most mock drafts have five or six tackles going in round one. But the quality of the position falls down a cliff after the top tackles on the consensus board. If you want one of the top guys, you’ll have to take them in the first round.

Francis Mauigoa, Spencer Fano and Kadyn Proctor are likely to be off the board by the time the Panthers pick at No. 19.

Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, Utah’s Caleb Lomu, Clemson’s Blake Miller and Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor have a chance to be on the board when the Panthers are on the clock.

Dan Morgan hasn’t taken an offensive lineman in either draft he’s ran since he took over as General Manger.

Ekwonu’s status for 2026 is truly up in the air and it’s hard to envision the Panthers trying to rush him back into action given the injury.

Given the uncertainty of Ekwonu’s injury and the room overall, it seems like a good bet that the Panthers will take a tackle on Thursday or Friday.

If they opt not to take a tackle, that will be a major storyline to watch throughout the season.

The Carolina Panthers spent a lot of money in March again on the defensive side of the ball while addressing other needs on offense.

So what will they do with the 19th selection?

Will they join the Detroit Lions as the only teams to select a wide receiver in the first round of the draft in three consecutive years?

"I think with anything, we're going to take the best player,” Dan Morgan said at his pre-draft press conference last week. “So if the best player we feel is that at 19, I wouldn't hesitate to draft another wideout. I don't think there's a rule that says you can't draft a wide receiver three years in a row. So I'm not really going to box us in and say we're not going to draft him."

Drafting a wide receiver three years in a row in the first round seems ludicrous on the surface. However, if you dig a bit deeper you can understand why the Panthers would consider the possibility.

Morgan has repeatedly talked about adding playmakers to the team. In 2024, the Panthers ranked dead last in the league in yards after the catch (YAC) with 1,426 per FTN’s Stats Hub.

In 2025, they were 26th with 1,629 YAC.

The Panthers top two YAC leaders were Rico Dowdle (350 yards) and Chuba Hubbard (291.) In fact, the Panthers haven’t had a wide receiver lead the team in YAC since 2023.

Dowdle is now in Pittsburgh and the Panthers only addition to the wide receiver room in free agency was John Metchie.

The crux of the argument for drafting a wide receiver for a third consecutive year circles back to the selection of Xavier Legette in 2024.

Legette caught 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie campaign.

Those numbers dipped to 35 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. He also had a horrendous start to the season, as he was ejected from the Panthers first preseason game for fighting. Then he accumulated a stat line of four catches on 15 targets for eight yards in the first two games of the season.

In 31 games, Legette has had 60 or more receiving yards just three times. He has yet to record a 100 yard receiving game.

The 32nd overall pick from the 2024 NFL Draft has been outplayed by his undrafted counterpart Jalen Coker.

Tetairoa McMillan was everything the Panthers could hope for as the No. 8 overall pick in 2025. The offensive rookie of the year was the focal point of the Panthers passing offense where he turned 122 targets into 70 catches, 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns.

McMillan and Coker give the Panthers a solid nucleus but they need more explosiveness.

Legette was a late bloomer in college and it’s possible that the light turns on for him in his third season.

But it should surprise nobody if the Panthers decide to go with another wide receiver in the first round come Thursday night.

Spending large amounts of money every March isn’t a sustainable way of doing business.

Every once in a blue moon? Sure.

But annually? Not ideal.

This marks the third consecutive March that the Carolina Panthers have dolled out a ton of cash.

I’m sure Dan Morgan and the rest of the Panthers front office would prefer not to continue filling key roster spots this way.

The reality is they kind of have to right now.

Consistent misses in the draft and mismanagement of those assets from 2020 to 2023 have led to three consecutive spending sprees in March.

In fairness, most of the big money that was spent in 2025 and 2025 panned out. Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis and Tre'von Moehrig have helped the Panthers crawl out of the wreckage of the 2023 season that could’ve kept the franchise spiraling in the abyss.

The Panthers are hoping that Jaelen Phillips and Devin Lloyd can help their defense take another step forward in 2026.

We covered the Panthers nonexistent pressure rates last month here. A quick recap per FTN:

• Pressures: 32nd (121)

  • The New York Jets were 31st with 137 pressures.

• Pressure rate: 32nd (21.4 percent) - 32nd.

  • The San Francisco 49ers were 31st at 22.6 percent.

• Sacks: Tied for 30th (30)

• Clean Pocket Throw Percentage: 32nd (78.6 percent).

• QB hits: 32nd (53).

Phillips had 73 pressures alone in 2025. Lloyd brings a major talent infusion to the linebacker group and is coming off his best year as a pro.

There’s still a lot of work to do, but these move should improve the team and give the Panthers more flexibility in the draft next month.

While the jury is still out on the 2024 draft, the 2025 class had a big impact on the field for the Panthers.

They’ll need to continue to stack good classes in the draft to avoid breaking the bank each March.

However, the biggest question they’ll navigate over the coming weeks is how to retool the offensive line.

Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu’s ruptured patellar tendon in the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams was unfortunate on multiple fronts.

It stunk for Ekwonu as he was in line for an extension and massive pay day as he was entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Ekwonu’s injury also added a complex variable to the Panthers offseason equation.

This isn’t the Panthers first rodeo when it comes to key offensive linemen suffering significant injuries in the final game of the season.

In their 2022 finale at New Orleans, starters Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen suffered a torn ACL and broken ankle.

That offseason, the Panthers invested minimally into the offensive line. General Manager Scott Fitterer’s only offseason additions to that group were Justin McCray (free agency) and guard Chandler Zavala via the fourth round of the draft.

Even for the most optimistic person, expecting both Corbett and Christensen to be ready by September was a tall ask given the severity of the injuries.

That decision - along with many others - turned out to be disastrous and led to Fitterer’s dismissal.

Even before Ekwonu’s injury, Dan Morgan was likely going to address the group in some form given current personnel and pending free agents.

Right tackle Taylor Moton is entering his 10th season. Starting center Cade Mays is a free agent along with Corbett, Christensen, Yosh Nijman and Jake Curhan.

Mays has been a consistent starter ever since returning to the Panthers in October 2024. Corbett and Christensen have battled injuries since that 2022 finale.

The question is which avenue will the Panthers utilize more to address their offensive line?

The Panthers rank 19th in cap space with $12,574,504 for 2026 as of February 21 per Over The Cap and have eight picks for April’s draft, with three in the top 100.

Morgan has shown he’s not afraid to spend big money in free agency. His first big moves as general manager was to pay over $100 million in guaranteed money to guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt to shore up the middle. Those investments have been worthwhile, even with Hunt missing most of the 2025 season.

Would Morgan want to pay a premium again to address the offensive line - especially at tackle?

The NFL Combine is this week and you can expect the Panthers - and the rest of the league - to be paying close attention to each offensive lineman prospect in attendance.

The Panthers top 100 picks currently sit at 19, 51 and 83. While it may be too early to know what teams may target in April, you can likely assume multiple offensive linemen will be taken in the top 20.

Here are the number of offensive linemen taken in the top 20 of the draft since 2022:

• 2025: Five

• 2024: Six

• 2023: Four

• 2022: Six

We’ll see how the Panthers navigate addressing the group in the coming weeks. Unlike 2023, you can guarantee that they’ll make investments into this group in 2026.