Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Trading up to draft OLB DJ Johnson was a head-scratcher back in April. It’s even more questionable now.
How did the New Year’s Eve looks pan out for the Carolina Panthers?
Here are our top takeaways from the snap counts in yesterday’s 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Panthers vs. Colts: Week 9 inactives
The Carolina Panthers have placed a grand total of 11 players on injured reserve this season, with eight coming on the defensive side of the ball. And among those eight are three of the team’s top four outside linebackers—Marquis Haynes Sr., Yetur Gross-Matos and, most recently, Justin Houston.
So, we may be seeing some relatively fresh faces this afternoon against the Indianapolis Colts, including third-round pick DJ Johnson. Johnson, who will get the starting nod for Houston, has seen his playing time increase over the past two weeks—as he recorded 24 defensive snaps in Week 6 and 29 in Week 7.
Plus, as expected, Luiji Vilain will be active for the team’s Week 9 outing. The second-year backer was signed off the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad and onto the Panthers’ active roster back on Oct. 24.
Carolina, additionally, elevated fellow outside linebacker Eku Leota. The undrafted rookie made his NFL debut in last week’s win over the Houston Texans, appearing in six snaps on defense and eight on special teams.
Also as expected, the defense will be without safety Vonn Bell—who was listed as doubtful with a quadriceps injury. Alex Cook, per Darin Gantt of Panthers.com, will likely start in his place.
Here is the complete list of inactives for the Panthers on the day:
And here’s who is out for the visiting Colts:
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Bryce Young’s winning performance in Week 8 yielded his highest PFF grade yet.
Do the Pro Football Focus grades feel any better after a win? Well, let’s see.
Here are the Carolina Panthers’ best and worst grades from their Week 8 victory over the Houston Texans:
The Panthers let their 2023 draft class cook in the Week 8 win over the Texans.
It took long enough, but the Carolina Panthers finally notched their first win of the season on Sunday. Oh, and they also might’ve finally given us a little glimpse into the future.
Here are the top takeaways from Week 8’s snap counts:
Bryce Young and Frankie Luvu headlined the studs from the Panthers’ very first win of the 2023 campaign.
Who stepped up and who stepped off in the Carolina Panthers’ very first win of the 2023 campaign?
Here are the studs and duds from Week 8’s 15-13 victory over the Houston Texans:
Here’s how the trade of Christian McCaffrey has panned out for both the Panthers and 49ers on its first anniversary.
A year ago today, the Carolina Panthers traded away one of the best players in their franchise’s history. So, how does the deal look on its first anniversary?
Well, shipping off superstar Christian McCaffrey actually looked quite good for the Panthers at the time. While McCaffrey certainly is no ordinary running back, reeling in the following package for a player at the polarizing position was considered a big win:
Here’s what each part of that haul has since turned into:
So, yes, they used the most valuable part of the trade as the least valuable part of the package for Young—which also included two first-rounders, a 2025 second and wideout DJ Moore. And, yes, they used the third- and fourth-round selections to move up 13 spots for Johnson—who was (and still is) considered a reach.
Anyway, here’s how our old pal Christian ranks in a few stats amongst all non-quarterbacks since arriving in San Francisco:
Additionally, the 49ers are 15-2 in regular-season games McCaffrey has played in and won a pair of playoff outings last year en route to the NFC title showdown.
As for the 0-6 Panthers, they’re also left with just over $18 million in dead cap on the year.
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Panthers ST coordinator Chris Tabor praised rookie OLB DJ Johnson for his physicality and growth on Thursday.
We haven’t seen much from Carolina Panthers outside linebacker DJ Johnson thus far. In fact, the most buzz that’s come out of the early portions of his rookie campaign may be from this video at Wednesday’s practice . . .
DJ Johnson 1v1 David Sharpe and JD DiRenzo pic.twitter.com/GGDrGkSEVJ
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) October 11, 2023
So, uh, yeah . . . we’re not off to a hot start.
But on Thursday, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor spoke a bit about Johnson’s contributions on his unit.
“Last few weeks, he’s played well,” Tabor said. “He’s playing physical. And the thing I really like about DJ—I think we’re tryin’ to play him in spots that kinda translates into his outside-linebacking world. And he’s accepted that and has really taken a lot of pride in that. So hopefully, he just kinda keeps gettin’ better each week.”
In what was perceived as a questionable decision at the time, the Panthers traded up into the third round of the 2023 NFL draft to select the (very raw) University of Oregon product with the 80th overall pick. That decision has, perhaps, become even more questionable—especially considering he’s only played in 36 total snaps through five weeks.
After not getting into the season opener in Atlanta, Johnson would be a healthy scratch over the next two outings. He’s since recorded 17 looks on defense and 19 on special teams between Weeks 4 and 5, and Tabor took notice this past Sunday.
“Well, he showed a lot of physicality playin’ last week in Detroit,” Tabor added. “I know I talked a lot about Detroit’s core, and they were very physical, really good. But he did really well on kick return. Just playin’ physical, gettin’ in the doubles and just finishin’ blocks. That’s where I was really pleased.
“I said it on the headset. I said our little young player, there’s a look in his eye today that he’s getting better and he’s growing. So I was very excited to see that and hopefully we can build on that this week.”
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Panthers DC Ejiro Evero explained why 2023 third-round pick DJ Johnson has yet to take a snap in the regular season.
The Carolina Panthers made a bit of a head-scratching move in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft—trading up to nab University of Oregon linebacker DJ Johnson, a relative unknown, with the 80th overall pick. And now, exactly five months later, our heads remain itchy just thinking about it.
Johnson, through three weeks, has yet to play a snap for Carolina. He did not hit the field in their season-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons and was not dressed for either of their outings against the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks.
Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero was asked about the healthy scratches on Thursday morning.
“Well, ya know, we’ve been really blessed,” he replied. “We have a lot of good players at that position. Justin [Houston], Brian [Burns], Yetur’s [Gross-Matos] been playin’ really well, [Amaré] Barno.
“He’s doin’ a great job, I would say that. We like where he is, we like his progress that he’s makin’ and it’s just a matter of him findin’ those opportunities. But there’s always those fluctuations and it’s week by week and we’ll see what happens.”
Perhaps ironically enough, the Panthers were notably thin at the position all offseason—even to the point where Evero stated that they needed players to “step up” off the edge. They’ve also been without Marquis Haynes Sr., who was likely to serve as the first backup to Burns and Houston.
As for who’s been getting those opportunities, Evero was also asked about the early progress of Gross-Matos.
“Yeah, he’s done a great job,” he said. “He’s on the edge, he’s an outside backer, he’s gonna play defensive end for us in our nickel package. And he can rush, he can set the edge, he can play the run game—he’s done all those things really well.
“And when you look at those known passing situations when you’re just tryin’ to get your best rusher—regardless of position—his ability to move inside, show that flexibility, to rush on guards, to rush on centers, to work all those pass games inside. And he’s done a great job of learnin’ it and showin’ that flexibility and it’s been really good for our team.”
Despite being listed as an outside linebacker, Gross-Matos has seen some work from the inside. The 2020 second-rounder, who is on the last year of his rookie deal, has recorded 1.5 sacks through three outings.
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We may have gotten a few early answers as to how the Panthers will run their show in 2023.
With an almost entirely new coach staff, the Carolina Panthers raised quite a few questions as to how they’d line up here in 2023. And on Sunday, in the team’s season-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons, we got our first real answers.
Here are the top takeaways from the Week 1 snap counts:
Bryce Young won’t be the only Panthers QB worth keeping an eye on Saturday.
In case you weren’t aware, we finally have ourselves some Carolina Panthers football on Saturday.
Here are the top storylines to keep note of during the preseason opener against the New York Jets:
