4 takeaways from the Carolina Panthers preseason

The defensive future is now

In a way, the future of the Carolina Panthers, at least on the defensive side of the football has come sooner than expected. Rookies Rashaan Gaulden and Donte Jackson were supposed to play big roles in the secondary down the road. It now appears they will play a bigger part in the defensive gameplan sooner than expected.

With seven total tackles in the first three preseason games, Jackson has shown that he is aggressive and has a nose for the football. Gaulden recorded five tackles in the first three preseason games. Although those are not eye-popping numbers, they certainly have given us a glimpse of what we might see down the road.

Of course you are going to have a guy like James Bradberry leading the way.  That much is certain, especially after the season he had last year. Corn Elder had a great game last week against the Patriots and he certainly is a capable veteran. However, as this preseason showed, the two rookies have the ability to make an impact right now.  It would be a fair assumption to say that they will see the field quite a bit in the fall.