As the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare to play the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, we sat down with Walker Clement of Cat Scratch Reader to learn more about the opposing side.
Question 1: What does a successful 2025 season look like for the Panthers, and how much of it has to do with quarterback Bryce Young?
A lot of fans have said six wins would be a successful season. That’s a step up from last year and more than we’ve seen from a full-time head coach since 2018. I don’t think that’s enough. We’re tired
of losing and I think 11 losses would be too heavy. Seven to nine wins, Young continuing on his progress at the end of last season, and more competitive losses than blowouts are the bar for a successful season. An opening day win wouldn’t hurt, either.
Question 2: Carolina got a fourth-round pick by trading 35-year-old Adam Thielen to Minnesota. It’s a clear on-paper win, but was it worth losing Young’s most trusted target?
It’s a harder trade to judge now that we lost his second-most reliable target, second year receiver Jalen Coker, to a quad injury for 4-6 weeks. Long story short, we’re going to have to see how Xavier Legette, Tetairoa McMillan, and Hunter Renfrow step up. They’re all either young, new to the team, or both. There’s a lot of chemistry there that we haven’t really seen on the field, good or bad.
Long story long, the last time the Panthers opened at Jacksonville, in 2015, they went to the Super Bowl. Cam Newton lost his leading receiver and favorite target from 2014, Kelvin Benjamin, right before the start of the season. He leveled up and dragged a corps of no-name receivers and an aged Jerricho Cotchery to a dominant 15-1 regular season record. Once is history, but if Young can do it again then it becomes a tradition. These are the kinds of realistic expectations that we’re placing on the shoulders of our quarterback.
Question 3: How concerning are the injuries to WR Jalen Coker (on injured reserve) and OT Ikem Ekwonu (in danger of missing Week 1)?
Coker is on IR, as linked above, and will miss a minimum of four weeks. Ekwonu is a bigger question. He hasn’t practiced this week (as of Wednesday) and is not yet two weeks removed from an emergency appendectomy. Even laparoscopically, that’s still major abdominal surgery with risks of complications (and further time lost) if he rushes back to the field. My expectation is that we’ll see Brady Christensen, an extremely capable backup, fill in at left tackle. Yosh Nijman, also a capable backup, is the other option. You can read more on the decision the Panthers may have to make at left tackle here.
Question 4: Who’s an under-the-radar player that Jaguars fans should watch out for in this game?
It’s weird to call a Pro Bowl player “under-the-radar” but I have to go with Derrick Brown here. I personally think the 27-year-old defensive tackle/defensive end is capable of having an All-Pro year. However, playing often on the interior and having missed the entire 2024 season, Brown’s name may not be the most familiar to folks outside of the Carolinas. He is an incredibly disruptive player. He may not get every sack, but look for him to be involved in most of them and in most plays that get blown up behind the line of scrimmage.
On offense, fans have high hopes for second-year tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. He flashed some explosive skills last season before hitting the rookie wall. Tight ends are not heavily featured in Dave Canales’ offense, but targets with proven chemistry with Young are also few and far between. We’re all curious to see how that dynamic plays out.
Question 5: Do you expect the Panthers to cover as 3.5-point underdogs, and do you have a favorite player prop for the game?
I think the Panthers cover. If I were even a smidge more optimistic by nature then I would call for them to outright win, but let’s not go that far today. This team is too young to be predictable, which is why I’m also staying away from player props until we have more data. Well, that, and as one of our commenters keeps pointing out: our mascot is literally a black cat. It’s bad luck to make assumptions about this team.
Thanks to Walker for taking the time to answer our questions!
What are your thoughts on Week 1’s matchup, Jaguars fans? Let us know in the comments!
