Carolina Panthers defense
Carolina Panthers defense
The Carolina Panthers finally have the pieces to build a top-10 defense.
This isn’t a guarantee that the Carolina Panthers Defense will finish the 2026 season with a top-10 defense. There are still plenty of questions that need to be answered, especially after losing their pass rusher Nic Scourton for the season.
But for the first time during Ejiro Evero’s tenure, the Panthers have a roster that actually fits what their defensive coordinator wants to do. In the NFL, scheme fit matters just as much as talent.
You can have talented players and still have a bad Carolina Panthers Defense if those players don’t fit what you’re asking them to do. On the other hand, the right players in the right scheme can make a defense much better than the individual talent on paper suggests.
That’s where Carolina could be different in 2026.
Dan Morgan spent the offseason attacking the weaknesses that have plagued this Carolina Panthers Defense for years. The Panthers added Jaelan Phillips to the defensive front, brought in Devin Lloyd and Bobby Okereke at linebacker, and continued building around a secondary that was already one of the stronger parts of the defense.
There are still questions.
Scourton’s season-ending injury is a major one. But there are enough pieces here for Evero to build the Carolina Panthers Defense around the strengths of the players he has.
Now it’s time to see what he can do with them.
The Big Reasons the Carolina Panthers Defense Can Be Top 10
The Defensive Line Finally Has Some Help
Carolina Panthers defense
Jun 9, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown (95) during th first day of mini camp at Bank of America Stadium practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
The biggest problem with the Carolina Panthers Defense last season was its lack of pressure on Quarterbacks. The Panthers ranked 30th in sacks with only 30.
That has to change.
Derrick Brown is still the centerpiece of the defensive line. After returning from his 2024 injury, Brown recorded five sacks, 73 tackles, and a team-high 11 quarterback hits in 2025.
But Brown can’t do everything by himself.
That’s why adding Jaelan Phillips was so important.
Phillips gives Evero an experienced pass rusher who has already shown that he can make an impact in the NFL. During the 2025 season, Phillips recorded 73 pressures between his time with the Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles, including 57 hurries, 11 quarterback hits, and five sacks.
He doesn’t have to become a double-digit sack player for this defense to improve either. He needs to consistently win his pass-rush opportunities and give offenses another player they have to account for on passing downs.
Phillips showed what he could do after joining Philadelphia. In his first game with the Eagles, he had eight pressures, proving that he could make an impact anywhere.
If Phillips can stay healthy, he should give Carolina that thing it desperately needed last season: A force on the edge that the offense has to account for.
Losing Scourton hurts. There’s no way around that.
However, Princely Umanmielen has given the Panthers a reason to believe they can survive the loss. Umanmielen has shown the speed, bend and explosiveness needed to become a more consistent pass rusher.
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Umanmielen played 22% of Carolina’s defensive snaps as a rookie in 2025 and finished with 1.5 sacks. This year, Dave Canales has asked him to take on a much larger role, and Phillips has called him the most naturally gifted pass rusher on the roster.
Through the first two preseason games, Umanmielen continued to stand out as one of Carolina’s better defensive players.
If he can turn those flashes into consistent production, he can give Evero another edge rusher to rotate alongside Phillips and Patrick Jones III.
The Linebacker Room Is Completely Different
This is the biggest improvement on the entire Carolina Panthers Defense.
Last season, Carolina struggled to find consistent production at linebacker. Consistently, the unit was ranked 25th or below according to PFF.
That shouldn’t be the case anymore.
Devin Lloyd was brought in to become the centerpiece of the position, and everything coming out of training camp suggests he is already embracing that role.
Lloyd gives Evero an athletic linebacker who can play sideline to sideline, cover in space, and contribute as a blitzer.
His coverage ability has been one of the biggest reasons for the excitement surrounding him. During training camp and joint practices, Lloyd has shown the ability to quickly close ground and take away throws over the middle of the field.
His impact has gone beyond what he has done on the field, too. His work during training camp helped earn him a team captain spot, showing how quickly he has established himself as a leader in Carolina’s defense.
Then Carolina added Bobby Okereke.
Okereke brings something the Panthers desperately needed: experience.
The veteran has been a productive tackler throughout his career and has the coverage skills to stay on the field in passing downs.
That combination is important for Evero’s scheme.
Lloyd and Okereke can handle similar responsibilities, which allows Evero to have far more flexibility than he did a year ago.
The Panthers don’t have to ask their linebackers to do things they aren’t comfortable doing.
They can play to their strengths. That’s what a good scheme is supposed to do.
The Secondary Gives Evero Options
The Panthers’ secondary was arguably the strongest part of the Carolina Panthers Defense last season.
Now it has more experience and more depth.
Jaycee Horn gives Evero a legitimate No. 1 cornerback when healthy. Mike Jackson gives another experienced outside corner, while Chau Smith-Wade and rookie Will Lee give Carolina more options.
Then there’s the safety position. Trevon Moehrig and Nick Scott have been a fun pair to watch.
Lathan Ransom gives Evero another versatile piece on the back end, and the Panthers have continued adding young talent around him, including rookie Zakee Wheatley.
A defense is at its best when quarterbacks don’t immediately know what they’re looking at.
We saw this against the Packers last season when Carolina showed a two-high safety look before the snap and then rotated into a different coverage after the ball was snapped. The change took away the deeper routes Jordan Love wanted to attack off play action and forced him to check the ball down.
That is exactly the type of hesitation Evero is trying to create.
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If the secondary can disguise coverages, rotate safeties, and give Horn the ability to handle an opponent’s best receiver, Evero can be more aggressive with the rest of his defense.
The Last Word
It is too early to say that Ejiro Evero has no excuses.
I am ready to say he has more of the personnel he needs to run the defense he wants.
There were real concerns about some of the Carolina Panthers’ defense’s struggles over the past two seasons.
The Panthers lost Derrick Brown for almost the entire 2024 season and were historically bad. In 2025, the pass rush wasn’t good enough, and the linebacker room was a huge weakness.
Those problems have been addressed.
Losing Scourton is a big blow, and injuries could still derail everything.
But the Panthers have invested heavily in this defense. The pieces they’ve added make sense together.
Now it’s whether those additions actually translate into better production on Sundays.
Evero doesn’t need every player on this defense to become a star; he needs his guys to do their job.
Brown and Phillips need to create pressure. He needs Lloyd and Okereke to stabilize the linebacker position. He needs Horn and the rest of the secondary to hold up long enough for the pass rush to get home.
This season, the pressure rate is going to be the key for this defense. The Panthers finished last season at 29.6% and still ended up ranking 7th in turnovers. If this Carolina Panthers Defense can push that number above 35%, for chances for the defense to get turnovers and score on offense.
If that happens, the Carolina Panthers defense becomes a top-10 unit.
The Panthers finally gave Evero the pieces. Now it’s time to see what he can do with them.
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Main Image: Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union