Carolina Panthers: Predicting team leaders in statistics for 2019

Sacks

Can he do it again? That is the big question when it comes to Carolina Panthers defensive end Mario Addison. He made getting after the quarterback a habit last year, providing the Panthers with a tremendous pass-rushing presence on their defense. Now, he looks to do it again, and be a sack-master for the third year in a row.

Interestingly enough, his nine sacks in 2018 were down from 2017. That year, he recorded 11, the most he has recorded at any point in his career. In 2016, he recorded 9.5 sacks on the year. I don’t mean to bore you with too may statistics, but it is important to point out that he has been playing at a consistently high level for the past three seasons. Luckily, Addison should have help in trying to get to the quarterback.

Former Florida State defensive end Brian Burns was picked 16th overall for a reason. He was chosen to replace Julius Peppers with the latter retiring earlier this offseason. He is the type of player that can make an impact right away, and provide  Carolina with youth at the position. That is something they have been missing for years, although Pep did a pretty good job. Burns could be a player to watch come the fall, and he could end up being the sack leader. Right now, I know what I’m going to get out of Addison. He should be in a good position to do more of the same in 2019, and I hope Burns competes with him for that mark.