One of the first things you may have thought when the Panthers traded for former Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore on Wednesday, besides the obvious, “Why didn’t MY favorite team give up a sixth-round pick for him?” might have been, “Why did the Panthers trade for him, when Gilmore is a man coverage cornerback, and the Panthers play a ton of zone coverage?”
It’s a sound question. The Panthers, under second-year defensive coordinator Phil Snow, have one of the better defenses in the league right now, and zone coverage behind aggressive and multiple fronts is a big part of that… but not as much as you may think right now. Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, only the Seahawks and Buccaneers played more man coverage against the pass than the Panthers, who allowed 272 completions on 401 attempts for 2943 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a Positive Play Rate allowed of 52.9%, eighth-worst in the league.
How Phil Snow turned the Panthers’ defense into the NFL’s new nightmare
This season, that much-improved defense has played zone coverage on 63 passing attempts, the 10th-fewest in the NFL. They’ve given up 37 catches for 507 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a Positive Play Rate allowed of 41.1%, fourth-best in the league. Man coverage has been more of an issue — on 30 passing attempts, they’ve given up 17 catches for 174 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a Positive Play Rate allowed of 39.0%, which is actually better than league average. Three of those touchdowns came in Carolina’s 38-26 loss to the Cowboys last Sunday, so perhaps the stronger message there is to not play a bunch of man coverage against Dak Prescott and his dominant array of targets.
Red-hot Dak Prescott exposes first vulnerabilities in Panthers’ defense
This is just not good, guys.
I'm old enough to remember training camp practices when Dak Prescott was rehabbing a throwing shoulder strain, Amari Cooper rehabbing from ankle surgery.
2 months later: Dak to Amari, 35-yard TD 🔥. Cowboys lead 20-14.pic.twitter.com/gJrcQ1Ywsd
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) October 3, 2021
No matter what the Panthers want to play, Gilmore can handle it — he’s far more than just a one-trick player. And the Panthers certainly could have used him against the Cowboys when, say, Amari Cooper was running crossers.
Mistake: Running the same route against Stephon Gilmore more than once. You're just giving him the answers to the test. pic.twitter.com/Oeg1zh4g1z
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 13, 2020
In 2019, when he won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award, Gilmore allowed 29 catches on 66 targets for 428 yards, 128 yards after the catch, five touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 39.2. In zone coverage, he allowed 15 catches on 26 targets for 153 yards, 64 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 58.7.
Move to 2020, and even when he was playing through injuries and limited to just 11 games, Gilmore allowed 17 catches on 28 targets for 253 yards, 80 yards after the catch, one touchdown, one interception, and an opponent passer rating of 87.4 in man coverage. In zone, he gave up eight catches on 11 targets for 90 yards, 20 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 96.8.
With rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn out for months with multiple broken bones in his foot, and the Panthers still learning to work with former Jaguars cornerback CJ Henderson, who the team traded for in late September, the addition of Gilmore is a wise one for a defense looking to recover from the Dak Attack. And when they have all three cornerbacks on the field and totally acclimated to the playbook, Gilmore, Henderson, and Horn will give the Panthers as formidable a three-cornerback group as you’ll find in the NFL.
No matter what coverages they prefer to play.