Zach Wilson will receive a baptism of fire against Panthers pass-rush

New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is going to get a baptism of fire on his NFL debut at the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 of the 2021 season.

The Carolina Panthers have themselves a game of significant interest to kick off their 2021 season. CBS Sports revealed their Week 1 fixtures on Wednesday shortly prior to the league’s official schedule reveal, which sees the organization welcome the New York Jets to Bank of America Stadium for what should be a fascinating matchup.

This will ultimately be focused on the two players under center, and with good reason. Sam Darnold‘s official debut for the Panthers comes against the team that gave up on him in favor of BYU prospect Zach Wilson, who was taken No. 2 overall by the Jets just a couple of weeks after they moved on the former USC star to Carolina.

Nobody will want to win this game more than Darnold, who was stung by the Jets’ decision to go in a different direction. They didn’t exactly put their No. 3 selection in 2018 in the best possible position to succeed, so there is every chance more might be to come in a better environment and plenty in the way of offensive talent at his disposal.

Carolina Panthers DL will make things difficult for Zach Wilson.

As for Wilson, big things are expected after the prospect came from almost nowhere to be the second player taken behind consensus No. 1 pick, Trevor Lawrence. He has all the intangibles needed to make a real go of things at the next level. But there is little doubt he is not going to have things all his own way in the pros.

Wilson is going to get a baptism of fire against the Panthers, who have made some significant reinforcements to their defensive front this offseason and should be able to make some noise against suspect protection in New York. Brian Burns and Derrick Brown have been joined by free-agent signings Haason Reddick and three-technique Morgan Fox, with DaQuan Jones also acquired to make a difference on running downs.

Couple this with much more production expected from 2020 second-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos in his sophomore campaign and the intriguing presence of fifth-round selection Daviyon Nixon, and it’s not hard to see why this could become an area of real strength for the Panthers next season.

If Wilson was hoping for a smooth start in his opening NFL game, he’ll be out of luck.

The Panthers have multiple players who can get to the point of attack quickly and considering the improvements made to their secondary in recent weeks, the front seven should get more time to do the expected damage.

Neither Wilson nor Darnold should be defined by the opening game of the season. But the winner will get a big shot in the arm in terms of momentum that they can take with them into the rest of the year.

The Jets are counting on Wilson to lead them back into contention at the earliest possible opportunity. This is a lofty goal in arguably the biggest market in sports. But the gunslinger has enough exciting qualities to make things happen that most simply don’t have in their locker.

However, the Panthers are going to give him some unbelievable problems and if Gang Green’s offensive line doesn’t live up to their end of the bargain, it’s going to be a debut to forget for Wilson and the Jets.