Back before Tre’Von Moehrig signed with his new team, there was at least one guy in the Carolina Panthers’ defensive back room who knew about Moehrig.
Even if that guy didn’t yet know Moehrig’s name.
That guy in question is Mike Jackson, a studious cornerback and a bright spot in a dim 2024 for the Panthers defense. He re-signed with the team last week, and during a press conference, Jackson was asked about the hard-hitting free-agent safety the Panthers had just signed away from the Las Vegas Raiders.
So, in response, Jackson offered the truth — which turns out to also be the highest compliment in today’s NFL.
“I didn’t know his name, but I knew his jersey number,” Jackson said of Moehrig. “And in the league, that’s how you know somebody’s really nice.”
Jackson even remembered a few details about the TCU graduate’s skillset. One play in particular stood out from film: an otherwise routine run that resulted in Moehrig pummeling a Chargers ball-carrier for a loss.
“He had a two-high look, and that let me know, ‘Yeah, he watches film,’ because you shouldn’t beat that, you should get cracked right there because you’re out of position,” Jackson said. The CB added, “And he’s just a dawg. He’s one of those players who doesn’t play off the record of the situation. He just shows up everyday.”
Moehrig was relayed Jackson’s praise Thursday and smiled and acknowledged that, yes, this is often how players discover their peers — by their numbers first, as they flash on film again and again, before learning their names.
“I appreciate that,” Moehrig said, smile beaming. “Hopefully we can keep putting that stuff on tape and getting recognized, and looking forward to working with him and doing some things on the field.”
It made for a fun moment Thursday, which was also Moehrig’s first time speaking with Charlotte media since becoming a Carolina Panther. But don’t let Moehrig’s easy smile and soft-spoken nature fool you: The newly signed safety wants to lay down “hurt” when he’s in the game — and he’s not afraid to say it out loud.
A sampling:
“Whether the ball is coming toward me or not, I’m going to make somebody hurt, try to put my shoulder pads into him, just be physical,” Moehrig said. “I’m a physical player. But at the same time, I’m smart, I’m calculated, and I feel like I can get the job done wherever they put me.”
Last week, the Panthers signed Moehrig to a three-year, $51 million deal that has a max value of $60 million with incentives. The 6-foot-2, 203-pound enforcer was considered one of the best — if not the best — safety in the free agency field, fresh off a season with the Las Vegas Raiders where he notched career highs in tackles (104) and pass deflections (10) while adding two interceptions and a sack.
With him, the Panthers are getting a safety who’ll start immediately (and that’s not just because he’s currently one of two safeties under contract right now). They’re also getting a noted run-stopper who thrived this past season as the coaching staff played him closer to the line of scrimmage to let his hard-hitting nature shine.
“Just coming down in the box a little bit more, being able to blitz,” Moehrig said of what made his 2024 stats pop. “I just had it on my mind to be a dominant player wherever it was. To come in with force.
“It doesn’t matter if the ball was over there or not, or if the ball was on the other side, if it was me and somebody else, I just wanted to be the more dominant player in everything I did. So I think that helped translate into racking up some more of those tackles.”
‘I come down and I just hit them’
Toughness was clearly a theme of his final year with the Raiders. Even as the Las Vegas team struggled to score points and get in the win column, the defense proved stingy in stretches. The Raiders allowed 25.5 points per game — 25th in the league — but were better than the league median in all rush defense categories and yards allowed per game (333.1), per Team Rankings.
And say what you want about the Raiders defense, but they were tough.
And tough by design.
“Last year, we always preached about the non-stat sheet things,” Moehrig said. “Things that don’t always show up on stat sheets, that don’t get recognized. A lot of my favorite ones are guys just trying to block me in the box and I come down and just hit them. Just knock them off. I think there are a couple of them: the Saints, Kansas City. I try to put it on tape every game.”
Moehrig’s toughness was first seen at TCU, when the Spring Branch, Texas, native arrived as a cornerback and quickly transitioned into a safety. He did so because when he arrived, “I felt myself hitting a little bit of a (growth) spurt, putting on some more weight, so there were more chances to make some big plays at safety.” It worked out. In 2020, his senior year, he earned second-team All-American honors and was the Jim Thorpe Award Recipient, an accolade given to the top defensive back in college football, before landing with the Raiders as a second-round pick in 2021.
Putting a name to the number
The Panthers hope it will continue to work out. He’ll be asked to do a little bit of everything — his versatility as a ball-hawk and as a run-stopper is something Moehrig prides himself on — and the Panthers think he’s up to the task.
All he’s being asked to do, after all, is be the player he was when he was a mere number, for a different team, flashing on film.
His number might change, of course. Moehrig wore No. 7 with the Raiders, and that number belongs to Jadeveon Clowney, who took back his USC Gamecock and South Pointe High School number when he returned home to the Carolinas last offseason.
“We’ll figure that out when the time comes,” Moehrig said Thursday about his number, shedding another smile.
The number isn’t his focus right now. He’s instead set on making Carolina remember his name.
The Charlotte Observer
Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned five APSE Top 10 distinctions, most recently in the Long Features category in 2024. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22.