Panthers PFF grades: Derrick Brown on top, Bryce Young & linebackers bomb

There are a few reliable stars for the Carolina Panthers, chiefly Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn on defense and Taylor Moton on offense. That's about it as far as consistency goes, though. The rest of this roster is up and down at best and spending far more time on the "down" part of the spectrum.

That lesson was reinforced in yesterday's humiliating 29-point loss to the New England Patriots, which saw precious few Carolina players doing their jobs and all three phases getting wiped out. Let's see what we can learn from this week's Pro Football Focus grades for the Panthers.

Brady Christensen, Taylor Moton top offense

One of many perplexing lineup decisions that head coach Dave Canales has made this year is waiting so long to play his best backup offensive lineman, Brady Christensen. Despite several injuries up front he only finally got on the field on Sunday and immediately posted the highest grade for Carolina's offense, coming in at 83.5 overall on 30 snaps played.

Second place went to right tackle Taylor Moton, who earned a strong 75.7 in run blocking and a respectable 70.0 in pass blocking, earning him a75.0 overall grade.

Bryce Young (almost) hits bottom

It was a far less respectable outing for Carolina's starting quarterback, Bryce Young. While he managed to avoid losing any fumbles or throwing any interceptions, Young was often inaccurate, only completing 18 of 30 pass attempts and finishing with 150 yards and one TD, which came on the opening drive. After that, it was pretty much all-ugly. Young's 53.7 overall grade was the lowest for any starter with at least 20 snaps.

The worst grade for the Panthers offense this week went to right guard Chandler Zavala, who was starting in place of injured star Robert Hunt. Zavala only played 17 snaps, but in that time he somehow managed to earn a 0.0 pass blocking grade. That brought his overall grade down to 47.5.

Derrick Brown leads defense

Star defensive tackle Derrick Brown was one of very few bright spots for the Panthers defense this week. Brown was able to get some push inside and managed to make four stops, earning himself an 83.7 overall grade, the best for Carolina on this side of the ball.

The next-best grade for the Panthers defense went to fellow defensive tacle A'Shawn Robinson, who tied safety Nick Scott for a team-high six total tackles. Robinson's efforts got him a grade of 80.4 overall.

Linebackers all bomb

With the exceptions of Boogie Basham and Nic Scourton, PFF hated everything they saw from the Panthers' linebackers this week, both inside and out. The four lowest overall grades on defense for Carolina went to D.J. Johnson (39.9), Princely Umanmielen (37.6), Trevin Wallace (30.0) and Christian Rozeboom (26.5).

That the Panthers' front office hasn't made an earnest play for an off-ball linebacker upgrade speaks to a lack of urgency that's killing the team's chances of catching up in the NFC South, both on and off the field.

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