Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#24. Jon Beason
The Carolina Panthers have been spoiled with off-ball linebacker talent throughout their existence. Jon Beason is just one of the many dominant backers the team has had, and boy was he dominant at his peak. The Panthers selected Beason 25th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. (Spoiler alert: he won’t be the only first round linebacker from the U on this list). Starting all 16 games his rookie year, Beason put the league on notice, using his athleticism and playmaking ability to rack up 140 tackles, eight passes defended, a pick, and a fumble recovered. That performance landed him second in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, losing out to fellow linebacker Patrick Willis.
Beason’s first four seasons in the NFL were about as good as anyone could have hoped for: he started every game in that span, earned three Pro Bowl selections, and First Team All-Pro selection, and a Second Team All-Pro selection. He didn’t have less than 121 tackles in a single season in that span, and had over 100 SOLO tackles three of the four years. The Panthers rewarded his dominance with a five year, $50 million contract extension in 2011, making him the highest paid middle linebacker in NFL history at the time. Unfortunately, 2011 is also when the wheels started falling off physically. The previously Iron Man type of player tore his Achilles in Week 1 of the 2011 season, causing him to miss the rest of the year. Beason worked hard to return to the field in 2012, but a combination of cartilage damage in his knee and a torn labrum in his shoulder combined to limit him to just four games that year before landing on IR again. The timing on that second injury was not ideal for Beason as he was replaced in the middle by a Hall of Famer. Beason returned in 2013, but didn’t really fit with the defense anymore. After just three games, the Panthers traded Beason to the New York Giants for a conditional 7th round pick. Beason finished that year relatively healthy, but succumbed to multiple ailments that ended his 2014 and 2015 seasons (e.g. fractured foot, knee sprain, concussion, lingering ankle injuries). Beason ultimately retired following the 2015 season.
Had catastrophic injuries (and competing with Luke Kuechly) not derailed Beason’s career, he was well on track to finish in the Top Ten on this list. As it stands, the highest of Beason’s highs were tough to beat. Those first four seasons had Panthers fans excited on a level not seen since Dan Morgan’s early dominance at the position. By all accounts Beason was great in the locker room and did not make any waves when moved outside, at least not until after he retired. Despite the ride coming to a sudden and disappointing end, Jon Beason’s on-field dominance when healthy earned him this spot in our countdown.
