While the Panthers offense features an exciting new group of players, the biggest concern for Carolina comes on the other side of the ball. Not only is the team on track to have the youngest defense in the last decade, but the unit was also ranked last in the league after losing Luke Kuechly to retirement this offseason and several other veterans to free agency.
One of Carolina’s starting defensive ends, Brian Burns, has impressed fans and coaches with his second-year improvement, acting as a rare cause for excitement for this unit. At training camp, the most prominent battle for the defensive line features a veteran and a rookie to decide who will start on the opposite side of Burns.
Stephen Weatherly
Weatherly (6-foot-5, 265 pounds) is a five-year veteran in the NFL, formerly playing with the Minnesota Vikings from 2016 to 2019. This offseason, he signed a two-year deal with Carolina worth about $12.5 million, adding another unfamiliar face to a team filled with the most new players in the league. Weatherly didn’t stay unknown for long, though, impressing fans with his many quirks and high praise for teammates like Burns, who compared him to Danielle Hunter.
After being picked in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL draft, Weatherly has surpassed expectations, growing into a reliable defensive end off the bench for Minnesota. In his four seasons with the Vikings, Weatherly only totaled 67 tackles, 17 quarterback hits, and six sacks, but he was renowned for his ability to thwart the rushing game, something Carolina has struggled with in recent years.
Weatherly is counting on increased playing time to prove his worth to the Panthers, while the front office hopes he will be worth the money. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus projects that Weatherly will edge out Gross-Matos for the starting job, at least to start off the season. Especially in a year without a preseason and with such a young offense, it makes sense to rely on Weatherly’s experience and knowledge to guide the team into a new era.