Panthers star vows defense will be nothing like all-time bad 2024 unit

There have been two main topics this offseason in regards to Dave Canales’s team. Quarterback Bryce Young’s second-half performance in 2024, and the Carolina Panthers’ horrific defenisve showing throughout this past season.

It’s going to be an interesting season for both. Can the two-year signal-caller pick up where he left off last season. When it comes to Ejiro Evero’s defense, can a new-look unit erase the memories of a year in which the team gave up the most total yards, rushing yards, touchdown passes and points in the league?

“We don’t need to be anything close to that,” said 2024 Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn (via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com). “You kind of want to throw it out of your mind because it’s a new season, but at the same time, it’s on the back of your mind too, because that should be really all the motivation you need to come back to camp. You don’t want nothing like that to happen again. It was a lot of injuries and a lot of stuff of that nature, but at the same time, the stat book is what it is. Like, we weren’t a good defense last year, so this year we just have to go even harder than we did last year.

“It’s out there, yeah. I mean you know it is what it is,” added Horn. “You’ve just got to go about handling it the right way, bouncing back.”

The 534 points surrendered by Canales’s club was the most in a single season in league annals. The Panthers gave up 59 offensive touchdowns—24 on the ground at 35 through the air. That run defense, which allowed a whopping 179.8 yards per game, allowed 200-plus yards rushing in each of its last six outings.

Hence the offseason additions of veterans such as defensive tackles Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III, linebacker Patrick Jones II, and safety Tre’von Moehrig. There’s also the 2025 rookie class that includes pass rushers Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen, safety Lathan Ransom, and massive interior presence Cam Jackson.

Combine these newcomers with a healthy Derrick Brown, the cornerback combination of Horn and Mike Jackson, and an up-and-coming linebacker like Trevin Wallace and this is a unit that bears watching in 2025.

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