Last week, we talked about the rushing and passing elements of the Carolina Panthers offense. Both phases were pretty underwhelming, which made for an underwhelming offense on the whole. Surely for a team that made the playoffs, that meant the defense was pretty solid, right? Not really.
How it went
The Panthers were historically bad defensively in 2024. They gave up an NFL record 534 points, and a big part of that was their inability to stop the run, even when trailing and knowing that teams were just trying
to grind clock. They allowed over 3,000 rushing yards on the season at a 5.2 yards per carry clip. Unless they were extra historically bad in 2025, there was nowhere to go but up.
And up they went. They gave up 1,000 fewer yards and limited opponents to 4.4 yards per carry. While neither of those are what you’d consider “good,” they’re okay. And okay is a huge step up from where the Panthers were. A big part of that was the return of Derrick Brown. He missed pretty much all of 2024 after setting a record for tackles by an interior lineman in 2023. His presence alone draws enough attention to open space for others to operate. The front office helped him out by adding some solid pieces along the front to give the group more depth.
So while in a vacuum the Panthers run defense wasn’t all that great in 2025, it moved in the right direction. Now it’s about building on that going into 2026.
The path forward
This coming offseason will probably look similar to the past ones. The front office should continue to hunt for bargain depth along the front lines to keep bodies at the ready and hope someone pops off. Most of the interior line is under contract, so that’s a good starting point.
The linebackers and edges could use some work. Rookies Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen showed promise at points but neither was dominant quite yet. DJ Wonnum is a free agent, so he’ll need to either be re-signed or replaced. None of them are dominant run stuffers, so that’s something the Panthers need to look for.
The linebackers…yeah. Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom struggled in both phases. They always seemed a step slow to diagnose running lanes and never made their presence felt. The duo combined for a total of 12 tackles for loss. The depth behind them was generally guys that you’d only expect to play special teams. All of that is to say that the linebacker spot needs a whole lot of attention in the spring. Rozeboom is a free agent. The Panthers should try to find an upgrade as a free agent. The position also definitely in play with one of the Panthers higher draft picks. Mel Kiper has them selecting CJ Allen in his first mock draft of the year. Some upgrades there and on the edge, and this run defense can start to look like something resembling good.
