{"id":447551,"date":"2026-01-30T14:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/447551\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T14:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T14:55:09","slug":"carolina-panthers-biggest-need-and-how-to-solve-it-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/447551\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Panthers\u2019 Biggest Need and How to Solve it Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Super Bowl LX <\/a>is nine days away. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will battle to decide the National Football League\u2019s 106th champion on February 8 at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there\u2019s always time to get an early start on 2026. Ryan Smith<\/a> of Pro Football Focus looked at each NFL team\u2019s biggest need this offseason and how to address it, be it via free agency in March on the draft in April.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers <\/a>were an 8-9 division champion in 2025,<\/a> and closed out this season with three straight losses. There is obviously room for improvement for Dave Canales\u2019s club, and Smith focused on one aspect of this club that has been an issue for too many seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Panthers fielded the league\u2019s lowest-graded pass rush in 2024,\u201d explained Smith, \u201cand responded by targeting defensive linemen with two of their first three 2025 draft picks. Despite the investments, this season didn\u2019t go much better. They ranked 31st in PFF pass-rushing grade (60.5).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Keldric<\/p>\n

Auburn Tigers defensive end Keldric Faulk (15) celebrates a stop as Auburn Tigers take on South Alabama Jaguars at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. Auburn Tigers lead South Alabama Jaguars 28-9 at halftime. | Jake Crandall\/ Advertiser \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

With no other real glaring need,\u201d added Smith, \u201cthe Panthers would be wise to continue stockpiling talent along the defensive line and see how the young players develop. Keldric Faulk <\/a>remains a work in progress as a pass rusher (66.0 PFF pass-rush grade in 2025) but is stout against the run (85.5) and would make an immediate impact on early downs in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Derrick<\/p>\n

Dec 21, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown (95) during the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Dating back to 2023, the Panthers have totaled an NFL-low 89 sacks in 51 regular-season contests. In 2024, Jadeveon Clowney and A\u2019Shawn Robinson tied for the team lead with 5.5 quarterback traps. This past season, Derrick Brown<\/a> and rookie Nic Scourton led the way with five sacks apiece. <\/p>\n

Carolina totaled an NFL-low 27 sacks in 2023<\/a>, and in back-to-back seasons in 2024 (32) and 2025 (30) finished tied for the third-fewest QB traps in the league. The addition of Auburn\u2019s Faulk could not only aid the pass rush, but could help a defensive unit that is still very suspect when it comes to stopping the run.<\/p>\n

– Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI –<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers urged to call Bears for huge blockbuster trade<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe Brady\u2019s Bills hire prompts \u2018what if\u2019 questions for Panthers<\/a><\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders\u2019 Pro Bowl nod makes Derrick Brown\u2019s snub even worse<\/a><\/p>\n

The most impactful Carolina Panthers for the 2026 offseason<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Super Bowl LX is nine days away. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will battle to decide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-447551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}