By Harry P McGill ยท July 16, 2026
July is the month when every new pass rusher looks healthy, every rookie defensive tackle looks enormous and every defense is one good training camp away from becoming the 1985 Bears.
That sounds wonderful in July.
The Carolina Panthers have earned some optimism, however. This is not the usual summer exercise of taking last year's roster, changing two names on the depth chart and announcing that everybody finally understands the scheme.
Carolina made genuine improvements. The front office added established talent at edge rusher and linebacker, invested three draft picks in the defense and continued building around a unit that had already dragged itself back toward respectability.
The question is no longer whether the Panthers defense will be better.
The question is how far it can climb.
Before examining the additions, it helps to remember where Carolina finished last season.
The Panthers ranked 15th in points allowed and 16th in total yards allowed in 2025. They surrendered 5,563 yards, including 2,096 on the ground and 3,657 through the air.
Those numbers will not inspire commemorative posters.
They do represent a remarkable correction from the 2024 defense, which finished last in the league, set an NFL record for points allowed and gave up the third-most rushing yards in league history.
Carolina went from historically bad to ordinary in one season.
Ordinary may not sound exciting, but anyone who watched the previous version understands its charm.
The Panthers also finished 2025 with 35 sacks and a minus-two turnover margin. Those figures explain why the defense never quite moved beyond the middle of the league. It became sturdier, but it still lacked enough disruptive plays.
Dan Morgan spent this offseason attacking that problem.
The signing of Jaelan Phillips was the clearest admission that Carolina needed more from the edge.
The Panthers have collected young pass rushers in recent drafts, and some of them have shown promise. Promise is useful. It is also one of the most overworked words in football.
Phillips arrives with actual NFL production and the physical ability to change how offenses protect. He spent most of his career in Miami before finishing the 2025 season with Philadelphia. When healthy, he has shown the speed, length and power required to become the player opposing coordinators identify first.
Health remains the obvious concern.
Phillips suffered an Achilles injury in 2023 and a partial ACL tear in 2024. Carolina did not sign a player with a spotless medical file. It signed a talented pass rusher whose career has occasionally resembled a VCR clock after a power outage.
Still blinking. Still capable of working. Nobody entirely certain what comes next.
The gamble makes sense because the Panthers did not have a proven edge defender with his ceiling. Phillips also fits Ejiro Evero's defense, where his ability to rush from different alignments should create opportunities for the players around him.
He does not need to lead the league in sacks.
He needs to force offenses to account for him.
Phillips will receive more attention because sacks are easier to notice than a linebacker arriving in the correct gap.
Devin Lloyd may have the greater influence on the entire defense.
Lloyd joins Carolina after earning second-team All-Pro honors and his first Pro Bowl selection with Jacksonville last season. At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, he gives the Panthers size, range and proven production in the middle of the field.
Carolina needed all three.
The Panthers improved against the run in 2025, but they still allowed 2,096 rushing yards and 4.4 yards per carry. The defense became less fragile without becoming dominant.
Lloyd should help clean up plays that reached the second level too easily. His coverage ability also gives Evero more freedom on passing downs. A linebacker who can remain on the field, communicate and handle multiple assignments prevents an offense from dictating personnel quite so easily.
There has already been discussion around the Huddle about whether Lloyd could be more important than Phillips.
That is a reasonable argument.
A dangerous edge rusher can wreck a third down. A reliable linebacker can improve every down.
Carolina continued the defensive work in the draft, trading up to select Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter with the 49th overall pick.
Hunter is 6-foot-3 and 318 pounds with a 6-foot-9 wingspan. He finished his final college season with 41 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble, earning first-team All-America recognition.
He is not here to become a graceful interior pass rusher.
He is here to occupy space, absorb blockers and make running backs reconsider their travel plans.
That matters because Derrick Brown should not be required to solve every problem along the defensive front. The Panthers have spent two offseasons adding size around him, including Bobby Brown III and Tershawn Wharton in 2025.
Hunter adds another legitimate run-down option and gives the rotation a chance to remain fresh later in games.
Rookies are rarely as dependable as they appeared in college. Offensive linemen tend to explain this to them rather forcefully.
Hunter does not need to become a star immediately. If he holds his ground and keeps Lloyd clean, the pick will help the defense from the first month of the season.
The Panthers did not ignore the back end.
Fourth-round cornerback Will Lee III brings the size Carolina prefers outside. At 6-foot-1 with long arms and two years of starting experience at Texas A&M, Lee has the profile to compete for a rotational role immediately.
He also brings some welcome ball production. Lee recorded two interceptions as a junior and returned one for a touchdown.
Fifth-round safety Zakee Wheatley adds a different kind of flexibility. During his final season at Penn State, Wheatley played 316 snaps deep, 253 in the box and 84 in the slot. He finished his college career with six interceptions.
That versatility is useful in Evero's defense, where safeties are asked to disguise coverage and handle more than one job.
Neither rookie should be counted on to transform the secondary in September. Both make the roster deeper and more adaptable.
Depth has been a problem in Carolina for years. Injuries happened, the replacement entered, and the offense immediately found him.
The Panthers are finally making that search more difficult.
Offseason improvement is not limited to new players.
Derrick Brown remains the foundation of the front. Jaycee Horn remains the best player in the secondary. Tre'von Moehrig, Bobby Brown III and Tershawn Wharton now enter their second season in the system rather than their first.
Young edge defenders Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen also have another year of development behind them.
That is where Carolina's defensive ceiling becomes interesting.
If Phillips stays healthy and one of the younger rushers makes a meaningful jump, Evero can build a real rotation rather than merely looking for somebody capable of surviving opposite the starter.
If Hunter contributes early, the interior becomes deeper.
If Lloyd performs near his 2025 level, the linebacker position becomes a strength instead of a weekly concern.
There are several reasonable paths to improvement.
A recent Huddle discussion asked whether the Panthers could field a top-five defense.
Of course they could.
They could also win every coin toss.
Possible and likely are not the same thing.
Top-five defenses usually combine high-end talent, depth, health, takeaways and sustained pressure. Carolina has improved in most of those areas, but several assumptions must go right at once.
Phillips must remain available. Hunter and the other young defenders must contribute. The secondary must stay healthy. The pass rush must improve from last season's 35 sacks. The defense must also create more turnovers after the team finished with a negative turnover margin.
That is a considerable list.
The offense will play a role, too. If Bryce Young and company sustain drives, the defense will face fewer snaps and more favorable situations. If the offense spends afternoons collecting three-and-outs, the improved depth will be tested sooner than anyone prefers.
A top-five finish is the ceiling of an unusually optimistic projection.
It is not the forecast.
I expect the Panthers to finish 10th in points allowed and 12th in total defense.
That would place Carolina firmly in the league's upper half and represent another meaningful jump from last season's rankings of 15th and 16th.
I also expect the sack total to move into the low 40s, provided Phillips plays most of the season. Lloyd should improve the run fits and middle-of-field coverage, while Hunter gives the front another useful body against heavier formations.
The turnover numbers are harder to predict. Takeaways often depend on tipped passes, loose footballs and other events that refuse to respect summer analysis.
Carolina should be more disruptive. That does not guarantee the ball will bounce toward a Panthers jersey.
The Panthers did not rebuild the defense this offseason.
They upgraded it.
That distinction matters because this was no longer a unit requiring emergency repairs. The 2025 defense reached the middle of the league. Morgan then added a proven edge rusher, an All-Pro linebacker, a second-round defensive tackle and two versatile defensive backs.
The floor has risen.
The ceiling depends on health, pass rush development and whether the younger players become more than interesting names on a July depth chart.
I do not expect a top-five defense.
I do expect a top-12 unit capable of keeping Carolina in games, protecting leads and occasionally making life unpleasant for quarterbacks who once viewed the Panthers as a relaxing Sunday appointment.
After what this defense looked like two years ago, that is not faint praise.
It is progress.