PHOENIX — When the Carolina Panthers signed Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd, two of the three highest-rated free agents, news accounts last month included the usual background information for the two defenders.
Height. Weight. Tackles. Sacks.
In Phillips’ case, media members also cited the pressure rate generated by the former Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher. Stories on Lloyd’s signing pointed to the five interceptions the off-ball linebacker snagged during his final season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But the initial articles omitted one piece of data that had a prominent place on the scouting reports Panthers general manager Dan Morgan had for both players: arm length.
As Morgan has sought to fortify the Panthers’ defense the past two offseasons, the former Carolina linebacker has looked for players with specific attributes. Those include versatility, physicality, high effort, high character and length, which to Morgan refers more to arm length than height.
The long and short of it: “I think if all things are equal, we’re always probably going to go for the longer, bigger guy over the smaller (one),” Morgan said.
It’s a philosophy Morgan developed over eight years with the Seattle Seahawks, who won a Super Bowl with the long-armed members of their Legion of Boom secondary in 2013 and another one last season with a defense that was long at all three levels.
As Morgan climbed the ranks in Seattle’s pro personnel department, he would travel to games to scout the Seahawks’ upcoming opponents. From his press-box perch, it became clear to Morgan that bigger was better.
“When I’m sitting up there and I’m looking out on the field,” he said, “they kind of make the field shrink and make the field seem smaller than what it really is when you have guys that are bigger and longer out there as opposed to shorter, nubbier type guys.”
Every team has prototypes for what they’re looking for at specific positions, from height and weight to speed and length. Under GM John Schneider and former coach Pete Carroll, the Seahawks kept a close eye on arm measurements.
Morgan said the “sweet spot” for cornerbacks and off-ball linebackers was 32 inches; for defensive linemen and edge rushers, Morgan is typically looking for 33-inch arms or longer.
According to his combine bio, Phillips measured 6-feet-5 3/4 inches in Indianapolis in 2021, with 33 1/4-inch arms. A year later, the 6-foot-3 Lloyd checked in with 33-inch arms.
So how does that length help them? For Phillips, it allows him to create separation from offensive linemen, reach to trip up ball carriers and get his hands up to muddy the passing windows for quarterbacks.
Panthers coach Dave Canales said Phillips’ length adds to his versatility. But it was Phillips’ entire profile that convinced the Panthers’ decision-makers he was worth $30 million a year, the highest AAV for a player in team history.
“He’s so big. He’s big enough to play the run at the point of attack. He’s crazy on the back side of stuff, chases it down. And then just the versatility to rush, to drop, to do different things with that size profile,” Canales said this week during the NFL’s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore.
“And then of course you pair that all up with this human and the things we heard about him from a character standpoint. How hard he practices, how hard he plays, that type of strain. Those are the players that we want to bring in.”
Added Morgan: “Every play he’s balls to the wall. He’s running to the football. He’s chasing down from the backside. He’s not giving up on his rushes. He’s constantly trying to make plays and trying to affect the quarterback or affect the run game.”
Lloyd checked all the same boxes.
After the Jaguars declined to pick up his fifth-year option last spring, Lloyd put together his first Pro Bowl season that included 10 QB hits, 1.5 sacks and a 99-yard interception return against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Devin Lloyd totaled 81 tackles and six tackles for loss last season with Jacksonville. (Doug Engle / Imagn Images)
“First of all, really productive on the ball. He had a fantastic year, intercepting it, play style-wise, high energy. He had range,” Canales said. “He’s huge, by the way. He’s 6-3 and change. A really heady player. And then on top of all that, just the stuff I heard about him as a man, the leader that he is, the respect that he has from his teammates, all those different things.”
Jaguars coach Liam Coen said Lloyd’s long arms contributed to his five picks, which tied for second among all NFL players. “A lot of those interceptions were a tip, overthrow, (and) he can get his hands on balls,” Coen said Tuesday at the AFC coaches breakfast.
Phillips and Lloyd will join a defense that jumped from last in the league in total defense in 2024 to 16th in 2025. The return of defensive tackle Derrick Brown helped, as did the addition of several free agents and rookie edge rushers Nic Scourton (6-3, 33-inch arms) and Princely Umanmielen (6-4, 33 7/8).
Coen, who followed Canales as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024, thought the Panthers’ defense was improved last season, despite the Jags’ 200-yard rushing day against Carolina in Week 1.
“Following them throughout the year, I know Matthew Stafford didn’t love playing against the Panthers,” Coen said. “I know they improved in a lot of ways and I think it started with personnel, and the scheme matching each other.”
In a Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Rams, cornerback Mike Jackson (6-1, 32-inch arms) snapped Stafford’s NFL-record streak of 28 consecutive touchdown passes without an INT with a 48-yard pick 6 in the first half of the Panthers’ 31-28 upset.
Jackson and Jaycee Horn (6-1, 33-inch arms) form one of the longer corner duos in the league and combined for nine interceptions and 27 pass breakups last year.
In discussing Lloyd, Coen noted Morgan’s background as an NFL linebacker and said, “I’m sure they appreciate and respect some of the traits and tools that come with that position.”
But there are exceptions to every rule, including the long-arm trait. Morgan was a seven-year starter, went to a Pro Bowl and set the Super Bowl tackles record with 31-inch arms. Luke Kuechly is going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer in a gold jacket tailored to fit his 31-inch arms.
Morgan said “super” instincts like Kuechly’s can trump any measurements.
“Kuechly only had like 31 and some change arms. I only had like 31(-inch) arms,” Morgan said. “So that’s not to say I wouldn’t take a linebacker (with short arms), but you have to have those other factors.”