4 Panthers players who’ve improved since the bye week

Derrick Brown – Carolina Panthers DT

Derrick Brown has been as advertised for the Carolina Panthers during his rookie campaign. But the level of progress being made by the No. 7 overall selection could see him become one of the NFL’s best in no time at all.

There were plenty of fans who wanted the Panthers to take Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons instead and voiced their displeasure on social media when Carolina stuck to their guns and give their defensive interior a real shot in the arm.

This was the right call in no uncertain terms. Brown has transformed the fortunes of their defensive line and is a real force to be reckoned with despite taking some time to adjust to the next level over the first few games of his professional career.

Brown is a formidable presence to shift off the block in run support and has also shown plenty of potential getting into opposing backfields in passing situations. This was one of the real question marks surrounding the player coming out of Auburn, but it’s safe to say these fears have been quashed.

The lineman seems to be getting better with each passing game. Brown is going to be Carolina’s defensive anchor for the next decade if he continues this trend moving forward and there is a chance he could make further improvements with better players around him.