Panthers rookie watch: Sam Franklin shined in Week 9 vs. Chiefs

Here is a review of how the other rookies did on Sunday.

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The Panthers played the Chiefs down to the wire yesterday despite missing their most important defensive player: second-round pick Jeremy Chinn.

Here is a review of how the other rookies did on Sunday.

DB/LB Sam Franklin shines

The most impressive first-year performance this week came from the undrafted linebacker/safety Sam Franklin. With Chinn out, he stepped up and made some eye-catching stops. Watch Franklin sniff out a screen pass for Le’Veon Bell and shut it down with some help from Derrick Brown.

On the very next play, Franklin spied Patrick Mahomes and brought him down for a big loss.

Franklin finished the game with seven combined tackles, tied with Shaq Thompson for the team lead. This is turning out to be one of the team’s better under-the-radar pickups of the year.

DT Derrick Brown’s penalty problems continue

Brown has experienced the usual ups-and-downs that most NFL rookies do. At times he’s been explosive and disruptive, at others he’s been washed out or made mistakes that are natural for his level of experience. One theme that’s been running all along is his penalty problem. Brown was flagged twice in yesterday’s loss. Even though one of them was questionable, that brings his season total to seven penalties, tied for the second-most in the league. The coaching staff has to get Brown to cut these down eventually. His pressure rate remains strong, though and his stock is still up.

DE Yetur Gross-Matos and DT Bravvion Roy didn’t play much

The Panthers’ first second-round pick didn’t see much action. Gross-Matos was activated from the injured reserve list on Saturday along with Christian McCaffrey. He wound up playing just 13 defensive snaps, though – 21% of the team’s total. It was a similar story for sixth-rounder Bravvion Roy. While he was in the starting lineup, he was only on the field for 21 defensive snaps.

CB Troy Pride essentially demoted

Even at 80% with a lingering toe injury, Donte Jackson is still far better in coverage than Troy Pride Jr. at this point. Carolina has accepted that and it was reflected in their snap counts this week. Rasul Douglas played every snap after being activated from the team’s COVID-19/reserve list and Jackson only missed two. Pride saw just 17 on defense. He is still involved on special teams, though. Douglas and Jackson both struggled awfully against Kansas City, too. Pride may yet get another opportunity to show improvement later this season.

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