While the Carolina Panthers have no shortage of talent on defense, they also have no shortage of questions entering the 2026 season. After losing promising edge rusher Nic Scourton for the season, Ejiro Evero will need his established stars to shoulder an even bigger load.Â
That starts with cornerback Jaycee Horn. His responsibilities could now extend far beyond locking down opposing receivers as the Panthers have been experimenting with moving him into the slot more frequently.
Horn logged just eight slot snaps in 2025. This camp, he's staying inside a lot more, something he called new territory even with a handful of reps there back in 2022.
Carolina Panthers will ask much more from Jaycee Horn in 2026
"But in this defense, one motion could switch your whole job and responsibility," Horn said. "As a corner, you only got three jobs; you don't have to think that much. But at nickel, you got to kind of know what's going on with each motion."
That complexity is exactly why Horn spent his offseason picking Jalen Ramsey's brain. He played the same hybrid role that the South Carolina product may play for Evero during the Los Angeles Rams' run to the Super Bowl, finishing that season with 77 tackles, 16 pass breakups, and four interceptions out of the slot.Â
Horn wants that same impact, and he's already logged two sacks off corner blitzes in his career, a sign the aggression should translate inside.
The positional shift lines up with something Horn has already been building. That, of course, is a reputation as Carolina's most vocal defender.Â
General manager Dan Morgan himself has watched Horn grow from a quiet little rookie into a player who calls out teammates over things as simple as untied shoelaces and demands accountability in the locker room. That will be needed more than ever as Carolina looks to retain its NFC South championship.
"You can just really feel him coming into his own as a player and as a man," Morgan said.
Horn’s partnership with Mike Jackson Sr. is also entering new territory. If he spends more time in the nickel, the two might now line up on the same side of the field for the first time in their careers together.Â
Meanwhile, fourth-round rookie Will Lee III is being asked to hold down the boundary reps Horn leaves behind. And by the 2021 first-round pick's own account, the former Texas A&M standout has handled the growing pains well.
The Panthers have enough talent to field one of the NFC's better defenses again this season. But with new responsibilities, expanded versatility and an increasingly important leadership role, Horn has become the player who will determine just how high the unit's ceiling ultimately is.
Horn will be up for the challenge, and the Panthers are lucky to have him.
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