Carolina Panthers Defense Hits ROCK BOTTOM in 2024 | Can 2025 Bring REDEMPTION?
The Carolina Panthers defense was historically bad in 2024, but after an off season of additions, can the Panthers bounce back in 2025? We’ll talk about it right here on Locked On Panthers. You are Locked On Panthers, your daily Panthers podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Welcome in to another edition of the Lockdown Panthers podcast, a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. I’m your host as always, Julian Council, talking Carolina Panthers with you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as we are back into inseason mode and your team every day. Our motto here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks for watching the show right here on YouTube and listening wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Be sure to hit me up on Twitter and Blue Sky, Julian Counsel of any questions that you have throughout training camp. And today’s episode of Lockdown Panthers is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Over the past couple of weeks, we taken a look at every single position on the Panthers defense heading into 2025. Now, let’s focus in on defense as a whole as we look ahead to this upcoming season. But before we can look forward, we must unfortunately look back upon what was the worst defensive performance in the history of the Panthers organization during the 2024 season and arguably the worst defense in the history of the National Football League. Something I never thought I would see with this organization. Certainly, there have been down years compared to some of the really good years where this organization has been known to play smashmouth football and has had greats like Luke Keequley and Sam Mills and Thomas Davis and Julius Peppers. I did not anticipate what I saw last year. And looking back on the state of the defense podcast I did a year ago, I did not expect it to be a good defense. And while they may have been fourth in total defense when looking at it in 2023, they were 25th in EPA, they were 26th in DVOA. It wasn’t like the Advanced Metrics thought it was a good defense the season prior. They just didn’t have to be out there. Well, they were out there a lot and they were able to um represent themselves in a positive way compared to what the offense did in 2023 when they certainly did not coat themselves in glory. But last year’s defense was an embarrassment and something that is completely unacceptable and can never happen again here in Carolina. And looking back at the final defensive numbers one final time, they were rough. They allowed an NFL record 534 points, 3,57 rushing yards, the most in the league last year, the most in franchise history allowed, and gave up 3,820 passing yards, the 10th most in the NFL. Went from the fourth best defense total defense-wise, that’s yardage allowed to 32nd. Uh went from sixth in yards per play allowed to 32nd, which again is dead last. went from seventh in net passing yards allowed per attempt to 31st. Went from the fourth least penalized defense to the eighth most penalized defense. 14th in third down defense to last in third down defense. Allowed opponents to score on 37% of their drives year prior to 51.4% of their drives last season, which of course was the worst in the NFL. 28th red zone defense to 29th red zone defense. So that did not really drop off all that much. 29th scoring defense to the worst in the history of the NFL. 30th in pressure percentage to last in pressure percentage. Panthers were 26th in defensive EPA and 25th in DVOA. They’re now 32nd in EPA and 32nd in DVOA last season when looking at the numbers. So, the numbers were not good, at least when we looked at them in totality from 2023. You could find the good, you could find the bad, you could find the ugly. Now there’s just ugly numbers because that’s what happens when you have arguably the worst defense in the history of the game. Uh now looking at it, how were they this bad? Injuries were clearly a big reason you lose Derek Brown week one. He does not play in 16 games and there’s no knowing how healthy he was even in that game against New Orleans as he tore his meniscus and continued to play on it. Swelled up on him on the plane ride home and then had the MRA. He was done for the rest of the year. Shaq Thompson missed 13 games coming off of a significant injury the year prior. That did not help things. DJ Whamm who was a key free agent signing the first edge rusher they signed after moving on from Brian Burns and training him to New York Giants. He only played nine game he missed nine games this past season. Dane Jackson who was supposed to be the corner opposite of JC Horn. It worked out with Mike Jackson, but Dane Jackson only played he missed eight games this past season. Jordan Fuller, who came in to be a starting safety, he missed six games. Josie Juul, who is supposed to be the linebacker next to Shaq Thompson. He missed five games and even when he was healthy, did not play at the highest level. Trevor Wallace, he missed four games as a rookie stepping in for both Josie and Shaq this past season. Jadevian Clowney missed three games, which is actually pretty good for him. Shai Tuttle missed a couple of games. Aan Robinson missed one game. JC Horn missed two games. Just a ton of games that these guys missed and even mentioned Nick Scott. a lot of injuries to this unit to key players like Derek Brown, like Jack Thompson, DJ Warham would have been a key player for them, some of the guys in the secondary that they had brought in, Josie Juel. So, when you have that amount of injuries, it’s hard to have a cohesive unit without the continuity being there week in and week out. And it’s not just that, it’s the failed free agent signings that they made last season. and put it on Dan, put it on a Gerald, put it on whoever you want. But a lot of these guys ended up being busted. Dane Jackson, even when he was healthy, was not good. He got benched in favor of Shaw Smith Wade, the fifth round pick from Washington State, the rookie. So Dane was a bust. He’s now up in Buffalo, Jordan Fuller. He was a bust. Josie Juel had the worst season of his NFL career last year. DJ Wam, hard to call him a bust, but he did deal with a serious medical issue that cost him the half of the season. Nick Scott was a complete liability. Now he’s back in a special teams ace kind of role. Calebon Chason didn’t even stick around for the season. Like the only positives from the defensive free agency signings a year ago were Clowny who they moved on from and Aan Robinson who was the best among a terrible unit of interior defensive linemen. So, when you only have two of those guys who come in and have a positive impact and then you’re only willing to keep one of them around. And I think primarily that’s because of the contract and then the decisions they made on night two of the draft back in April, that’s not the best foundation for your defense heading in to a new season. And that’s going to cause you to go out there and to spend a lot of money, which they did this off season to fix the unit. And like juxtapose that with the offense, Robert Hunt, Dame Lewis came in and completely changed the offensive line unit. Like they brought in Xavier Leette via the draft and they got Jaylen Coker and the receiving unit was so much better than it was the year prior where it was a bunch of misses on the defensive side of the ball last off season during free agency. And when you have those amount of misses and then you have the amount of injuries that you had, that leads to having one of the worst defenses in the history of the National Football League. And I guess you’re asking me then, why is a Jerro Vero still the DC? Well, the big reason is Dave Canals standing by his man. And I always go back to this quote. Dave Canals has asked multiple times last year about the scheme, about Agerro. Does it work? and he constantly said he liked the scheme. And if you like the scheme and it’s not the problem, then what’s the problem? I’m guessing the personnel. And this is what Dave had to say following one of the games last year and I asked about the Jerro Veroa and I’ve asked about the scheme saying quote, “I played against this defense. I played against it in Seattle with the Rams for a bunch of years. I played against it twice last year. I know what this defense will look like and I’m committed to that.” Ajaro’s committed to that. So, it’s about developing the players that we brought in. It’s about evaluating our schemes and it’s about seeing who’s out there to challenge our roster and who can help us get this defense to the place that we know we can. So, it’s not the scheme. At least that’s what Dave Canals is saying. And looking at what they’ve done this off season, they got a boatload of new players to put into the scheme to get the defense to the place that they know it can go. So, we’ll see whether that will be the case. If not, Ajerova will be done in Carolina as this is the final year of his deal anyways and that will certainly be a stain on Dave Canales in his second year moving forward as you’ll have to make a critical hire next off season at defensive coordinator and depending on what happens this season could be a hire that could or could not cost him his job in 2026 depending again on how things play out defensively and overall with this team in 2025. So, it’s a look back at what is a ghastly defensive performance that we hope to never see again here in Carolina. I have three big questions heading into this year and two of them are the same questions I asked last year. We’ll talk about that here in just a moment on Locked on Panthers. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands. That’s exactly where Game Time comes in. 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Will the free agent signings be enough to turn around the defense in one off season? Let’s take a look back at the offensive additions over the last couple of years and some of the offseason moves that they made. Look back at 2023 when the Panthers hired Frank Reich and the all-star coaching staff and they resigned Bradley Boseman. They signed Adam Thielen, DJ Ch, Miles Sanders, and Hayden Hurst as the big offensive free agent signings and then later on drafted Jonathan Mingo. As we know, Frank Reich lasted 11 games and that was a disaster hire. Bradley Boseman having seven different left guards, eight different right guards next to him did not play well that season. Adam Thielen ended up having a thousand yard receiving season was a really good player for Carolina, but DJ Ch was a bust. My Sanders was a bust. Hayden Hurst concussions of old was a bust and then Jonathan Mingo was a bust. So they got a ton wrong. Looking at last offseason for the defense pretty similar. Then go back to last year’s offseason for the offense. They hired Dave Canales. They went out there and they spent big money on Robert Hunt and Damen Lewis to fix the offensive line. They traded for Deontay Johnson. Certainly did not work out, but they wanted to get a number one receiver and they did that by getting him. They drafted Xavier Leette, Jonathan Brooks, Javon Sanders, and then they signed a UDFA and Jaylen Coker. So going back again, Dave Canal clearly to me was a positive. He at least lasted more than 11 games. He’s back for another season. So that to me, good signing or good well good decision to hire him at this moment in time. Hunt, Lewis, those guys solidified left guard and right guard, which was a constant turn style figuratively and literally during that 2023 season. Deontay Johnson did not work out. That’s okay. Trading for him led to Mike Jackson. So, I look at that as a positive in the end of the day. Uh Xavier Leette, good moments, bad moments, but on the right track. Jonathan Brooks doesn’t look like it’s going to work out. JT Sanders, that’s looking good right now. Joe and Coker, that’s also looking good. So, for me, like the 2020 off season, 2024 offseason um for the defense feels pretty similar to the 2023 offseason for the offense as the defense brought in a bunch of free agents who did not pan out. Where same thing with offense, those guys did not pan out. And like it’s a lot of failed signings and saying goodbye to a franchise player who could have helped you. Like look at the offense. They say goodbye to DJ Moore who could have certainly helped opposed to bringing in DJ and some of the other receivers outside of Adam Thelen who did not help out at all. And then defensively it was saying goodbye to Brian Burns. And then you brought in one who missed a lot of time. Clowny who I thought was solid for them overall and overall is just still not a great pass rushing unit last season. And I kind of feel like this off season for the defense is much like the offseason last year for the offense where the focus has been you got to fix that one side of the ball. 2024 they successfully able to at least fix the offensive line overall. Is the offense completely fixed? No. Had to make more additions this offseason get the offense to a point where I think they can actually be competitive within the division and the NFC. And then this off seasonason, they’ve gone out and spent a lot of money on the defense where they’ve gone and signed Bobby Brown the third and Turk Wharton and Patrick Jones the second. They’ve retained key pieces like Mike Jackson have extended JC Horn. So, we saw with the offense that it can be an improved unit with the offensive line and I’m hoping that the defensive line can be improved and that can really help you out and give you a chance to be competitive, but you may not be able to get every single area right in one off season. So, we will see whether it’s enough to get the defense to play at just an average level and to keep a Jerro Vera around for 2026 or will it be something where it’s going to take two off seasons and it’s going to cost a Jerro his job, but maybe they’re set up for actual success in 2026 under a new defensive coordinator with added additions. We will see how that plays out. But to me, those free engine additions have to really hit much like Robert Hunt, Damen Lewis hit last year offensively for Carolina to have success on the defensive side of the ball here in 2025. Number two, I asked this question last year. I asked it again. Will the Panthers be able to stop the run? And this is kind of been a common theme since going back to 2019 when ahead of that season Dave Canal sat there with Ron River and said, “You know what? We should go to a three- four. We ran that in Pittsburgh. Really successful. I think that’s the kind of defense we should run. Since going to a 34, a primarily oddman front. The Panthers defensive uh the defense against the run has been really bad. Honestly, has not been great. Personnel has been a question at points of times. Injuries has been a question obviously, but they have not been good against the run. They ranked 31st in run defense EPA the last two seasons. So, it’s not like they went from being good to bad. They were already bad against the run. and um they’re ranked last uh last year in yards per carry allowed and rushing yards allowed. But I look at some of the guys that they’ve added and some of the guys coming back and just their PFF run defense grades and I do think there’s a chance that this could be a much better run defense. Go back to 2023. Last time Derrick Brown was healthy. He had a 90 grade. That is elite. So if he’s back to being who he was and he’s able to play at that level again, that is awesome. Don’t way they can be as bad as they were last year. Bobby Brown the third had a 65.6. That’s solid. Patrick Jones had a 69.4. Also solid. Nick Scorton at&m. It’s college. It’s the SEC. Understand that. But a 74.4 grade. That is positive. The linebackers. That’s where the concern comes from when you’re looking at this. Josie Juel had a 52.2 last year, but he has had better grades in the in the past. Trevon Wallace as a rookie, mind you, only playing six games with Josie Juul at a 46.9. Must get better in that category. The secondary really struggled to tackle last year. Should not be that big of an issue. This year, I would think. JC Horn 80.9 last year. Mike Jackson 61.3 last year. Shaw Smith Wade 67.2. Then at safety, big question there because those guys really struggled. Tron Merrick 87.5 last year with the Raiders. Demani Richardson 66.9. So looking at all that, aside from the linebackers, they appear to be in a better spot with just how these guys have graded out in the past against the run in particular last season. So I do think it’s possible they have a better run defense as long as these guys are able to maintain what they did a year ago, possibly improve upon it, and then the linebacker play is significantly better than what they got last season. Then the last question is another question I had last year. Will the Panthers have a pass rush at all? They did improve from dead last in turnover percentage to 26 then pressure creates turnovers. Pressure greater than sacks. Yes, sacks are great. Typically, if you get a sack, that’s going to lead to a punt. But if you can get pressure, enforce a mistake, that’s a fumble. That’s an interception. That’s even maybe a touchdown. Like that’s what I would prefer necessarily over sacks. Getting home, awesome. But pressure, can you get pressure? They have not done that. So, at least they were able to get more turnovers last year. They improved from dead last in sacks with 27 in 2023 to 29th with 32. So, five more. Not a big jump at all. And they dropped from 30th in pressure percentage to last a year ago. All while being eighth in the league in blitz percentage after being 12th in 2023. And this was not a big change. uh they blitzed 29% of the time a season ago compared to 28 and a half% of the time the year prior. So they still blitz a decent amount. They just don’t get home. And a big issue is the edge rushers kind of when you look at the offense, the lack of weapons. Can’t really be surprised that the offense struggles when you move on from Chris McAffrey, when you trade away DJ Moore as well. Like yeah, you’re not going to have guys of that caliber. And when you don’t retain Hassan Reic, which I mean I figured that was going to be the case. They were going after Deshun Watson, which did not work out, thank God. And then when you move on from Brian Burns, whatever you want to think about it, um you’re not going to be in a great situation with the talent level in your edge rusher room when you move on from talents like that. And the edge rushers only had 15 of the 32 sacks last year. Uh it’s great to have a team effort, but I think the edge rushers, the guys who are getting paid to be the mens who get to the quarterback have to do a much better job than that. And now Clowny gone, they are only returning five and a half of those 15 sacks. Charles Harris had three of them. Echo Leota also had some of them. So five and a half sacks returning from this unit. That’s four from DJ won them. That’s one from Omari Barno and it’s a half a sack from DJ Johnson. A whole half of a sack. Everybody else who’s coming back who had a sack last year, Aan Robinson, who is the leading return sack man for Carolina, had five and a half career year for him. Josie Juul at three and a half. JC Horn had two. His only two of his career, both in that game against Kansas City. Jacobe Windman had one and a half and no guarantee he even makes the roster. LeBron Ray had one. Again, no guarantee he makes the roster. Trevan Wallace had one. Amari Baro had one. Another guy, no guarantee he makes the roster. Uh, and then Jaden Cromany had a half. And again, no guarantee he makes the roster. So, if you’re looking at guys who may not make it, that’s four sacks that could be gone. Overall, the returning 20 and a half, potentially could be down to 16 and a half depending how things play out. But, I do think that they have made additions that set them up to potentially uh be better than the 32, maybe get closer to 40. When you look at Turk Wharton and what he provided last season, especially in Kansas City, leading them in sacks, when you count the playoffs at eight and a half as an interior pass rusher, Aan Robinson, who again coming off a career gear with five and a half sacks last year, can he be able to do that again? Derek Brown had some pretty good pressure numbers, maybe not sack numbers when he’s a Pro Bowler in 2023. That’s another one to look at. Then you have DJ Wam hopefully back healthy for a full season. And if so, maybe he gets back to an eight potentially nine sack total. You have Nick Scorton and Prince Uman Allen who are primed to be key pass rushers not just this season but in the future. So there is a opportunity for this to be a better pass rushing team and overall cohesive defensive unit. It’s just going to come down to can the edge rushers kind of pull their own weight because they didn’t really do it last year and you got some young guys. So, I will definitely be looking out to see if they’re able to do that because if you can stop the run, that’s great. That’s significant. If you can’t stop the run, well, you really have no chance. But with the pass, if you can’t get pressure on a quarterback in a league where passing is how you win, it’s kind of like not being able to stop the run. Like, you’re going to be in a bad situation. You’re going to leave your secondary out on an island. Do not want that to happen. So, we will see if the Panthers have a pass rush this upcoming season here in 2025. What are realistic expectations for the Panthers defense in 2025? I’ll tell you here in just a moment on lockdown Panthers. What are realistic expectations for the Panthers defense in 2025? I’ll say this. I don’t expect him to be the worst defense in the history of the NFL again. I do not expect that to happen at all. I don’t expect them to give up 3,000 yards on the ground. Again, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Pass defense-wise, I don’t think they’re going to give up the 10th most passing yards, but there’s still questions as far as that unit goes. We’ll start off with the pass defense. They were 31st in EPA last year after being 12th in EPA this season. Prior, they allowed the 10th most passing yardage in the NFL last season. Bringing back JC Horn and Mike Jackson, that’s a good thing. Um there’s not been the kind of quarterback continuity that you’ve wanted across the last couple of seasons. That’s mainly been because of JC not staying healthy, Dante Jackson having injuries, Devon Gilmore, CJ Henderson, all of that. Like there’s a situation back then when and JC was out for the rest of the year. When you had Gilmore, you had Henderson still feeling like, oh, this guy’s a former first round pick. He can really help you out. And Dante Jackson, that cornerback room was going to be a strength for years to come. And I think they’ve kind of gotten there in a way where JC he’s now extended going to be here for the foreseeable future and he is one of the better corners in the league as long as he stays healthy. And then Mike Jackson was a nice byproduct of trading for a number one receiver which did not work out and Deontay Johnson and it landed you Mike Jackson at the end of the day. I think that’s a solid pairing to have both those guys back for another year together is a good thing. So I feel good about the top two corners on the roster. uh plus the addition of Tron Merrick at safety to be a tone setter, play more in the box, and especially help them out in run defense. And we’ll see how he does coverage-wise, but those three guys, I think you have three solid players in your secondary. The questions with the secondary unit and just the pass defense overall lie on will you get any pressure on the quarterback and then just the depth and then the younger guys who may have to step in there like Shawn Smith Wade came in and you know was solid fine as a rookie and the starts that he made last season and you look at some of the numbers PFF wise did not grade out the best in the last three starts he made before being out for the rest of the year. he’s going to step in right now and he’s going to be the starter in a nickel and we’ll see if he’s ready to go. And they do not have anybody I look at on the roster who I would think would step into that role ahead of him at this point in time. So maybe depthwise they should look at adding another corner who can play effectively in the slot. Uh safety right now it’s Stemani Richardson and Leon Ransom who would be the other two if you’re talking about like a trio of starting safeties. Ransom’s never played in the NFL because he’s a rookie. And then Richardson played last year. I thought he performed fairly well compared to all the other veteran guys who really struggled. Is that what they want to do? Are they are they confident in him? I certainly believe they need to add another piece there, a veteran to be a starter with Javon Merig. So there’s questions as far as is Shaw Smith Wade ready, is Demi Richardson ready? and just the overall depth because there’s guys like you look on the outside at corner, you have Schmar Bartholomew, um you have a Caleb Evans who are two guys that the staff apparently thinks highly of and has not been really willing to go out and get some of these bigname guys that y’all have wanted to see them get because well they sp they paid a lot of money for JC and Mike Jackson to be the number one and two corners this season. So will those guys if called upon be able to step up and play at a high level? They did not really play last year for Carolina. it took until like week 17 and 18 for them to get any sort of defensive snaps at all. So, that’s something to monitor and just think overall depth and just readiness from some of the young pieces and a pass defense. So, I think it can be better, but it’s going to hinge upon those younger guys stepping up, who they might add at safety, and can they get any sort of pressure. So, I’m not expecting it to be a no-fly zone great pass defense. Um, but maybe they can get closer to middle of the road opposed to giving up the tenth most passing yards in a season. Um, let’s see. Run defense. I obviously this is another big one. Derek Brown being back will be massive as far as trying to fix this overall issue that they’ve had seemingly since David Ter’s insistence to go to a three four ahead of Rona’s final season there in 2019. Derrick Brown the third and Aan Robinson. those three in the interior, maybe the best interior you’ve had um in a number of years since the Panthers really were a unit that every single season it felt like under Rivera they were really good against the run until at the end they weren’t and they did a great job of not allowing 100 yard rushers that they’ve been giving up I think the last six games of last season they gave up 200 plus yards on the ground which is not sustainable is not necessarily a winning strategy yes they did win a couple of those games by doing that but you cannot have that I look at with Dererick and Bobby and Nan that they got a pretty good trio there to be able to fortify the interior of the defensive line. And on the edge, it’s going to come down to guys like Patrick Jones who was really good being able to do that last year and kind of the grunt work that you need from your outside linebackers, your edge rushers to do every once in a while. And and Nick Scorton, he has a pretty good track record from college at Purdue and&m of being able to stop the run, set the edge. And then DJ Johnson, if he’s around, like that’s the only thing he really does well. So you look at those three guys and then you need princely Mellan and DJ Whamm of course to improve upon that as well and then like linebacker like you look at the secondary like you got guys like JC who can tackle you got guys like Javon Mer who can tackle so I think they’ll be fine as far as a tackling secondary but the linebackers have to be better none of the three whether it’s Trevon Wallace or Josie Juel or Christian Roseboom graed out well at all against the run. I know that Jos is capable. Just wasn’t really healthy last season. Roseboom, don’t know a ton about him. And then Train’s only been eight games in his NFL career. So, the linebacker play has to be so much better if this run defense is going to be as good as you want it to be because obviously you want your top three guys like Brown, both of the Browns, and then Robinson to be able to not let them get to that next level. But if they do, you have to have your linebackers clean it up. and did not do a good job of cleaning it up last season. That has to improve. And if you look at the last time Derrick Brown was healthy and had that 90 run defense grade according to PFF, the Panthers, they were 13th in yards per carry allow, but gave the 10th most rushing yards. And you have Aan and Bobby. So you would think that would be a better situation than having Shai Tuttle playing a ton of those snaps. But the linebackers, I don’t think any of them individually are going to be better than what Frankie Louu was in 2023. But looking back at last year where they struggled against the run, of course, this is probably a deeper linebacker unit as you have three guys who are capable of starting and then you have guys like Caden Sherless who have played before. You have Jacobe Windman who’s played before as well. So I do think probably better depth. I just overall question how good the linebackers are here in Carolina. So I still think this is probably more of a run defense that’s going to rank in the 20s. It’s just are you going to be like 20th, 21st or you going to be like 27th, 28th because that can be a big difference to winning games. So don’t expect it to necessarily jump up and be great. Overall for me defensively, I just think it’s going to take some time because I don’t have a lot of confidence in the pass rush and I do think the run defense will be better and they got to stay healthy. So it I don’t think it’s going to be the worst defense. I certainly don’t think it’s going to jump up and be a top 10 defense. Like, I still think this is going to be a defense overall just going to be ranked probably in the bottom half of the NFL. And if that’s the case, where are they in the bottom half? Are they in the late teens like 18th, 19th and up to 20th, 21st, 22nd, or are they closer to where they’ve been the year prior in 23 at 25th and 26 when looking at some of the advanced metrics? So, that is kind of my expectations. I don’t expect it to be a great defense this year. Um, can it be just passable? Think it’s possible, but how passable will it be? That is kind of the question. I do think it’ll be a much better offense which will be able to help out the defense uh in a number of ways. Not have to be on the field too often and then uh not necessarily have to be relied upon as much as has been asked in the past when the offense has struggled. That’s going to wrap up this edition of the Lockdown Panthers podcast part of Lockdown Podcast Network hosted by yours Julie Julian Council. Again, y’all subscribe or follow the show for free over on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. And be sure to follow me, Julian Counsel over on Twitter and Blue Sky, Julian Counsel, where I will be back with you uh with a weekly Friday bag or at some point in time. Don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen again. Um but in the meantime, be safe, be happy, be whole as always. Keep pounding and I will be back with y’all tomorrow on Tuesday as we will take a look at special teams heading into the 2025 season.
The Carolina Panthers defense faces a critical fork in the road in 2025. Can they rebound from a historically disastrous 2024 campaign?
Julian Council breaks down the Panthers defensive woes, analyzing key factors behind their record-setting poor performance. He explores crucial questions for the upcoming season: Will free agent signings provide immediate impact? Can Carolina finally stop the run? Will an effective pass rush emerge? Council also examines defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s future and Dave Canales’ commitment to the current scheme.
Discover Council’s realistic expectations for the Panthers defense in 2025. Will they climb out of the NFL’s basement, or are more struggles on the horizon? Tune in for an in-depth analysis of Carolina’s path to defensive redemption and the challenges they must overcome.
Timestamps:
0:00 Panthers defense historically bad in 2024
5:05 Were injuries and failed free agent signings the biggest issues in 2024?
15:17 Can Panthers stop the run in 2025?
20:52 Will the addition of two rookies improve the Panthers pass rush?
26:27 Fair expecations for the defense in 2025
31:32 Outro: Special teams preview coming next
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