Nic Scourton's torn ACL was already the worst kind of training camp news. Now it's a full-blown crisis of confidence in the Carolina Panthers' pass rush.
CBS Sports analyst Carter Bahns just ranked all 32 edge rusher rooms in the league and dropped the Panthers to No. 31, ahead of only the Miami Dolphins. The problem was that Carolina's edge options weren't fixed before the injury. It was a rebuild in progress.Â
And the stats show that as the Panthers tied for the third-fewest sacks in the NFL in both 2024 and 2025, with 32 and 30. Their pressure rate sat at 16.2 percent in 2024 (32nd) and 16.5 percent in 2025 (31st).
Carolina Panthers pass-rush might be better than some think, even without Nic Scourton
Yikes.
Scourton, a second-round rookie, led the team with just five sacks last season. That was the best they had. Now it's gone for the year.
The Panthers brought in Jaelan Phillips this offseason. He was going to pair with Scourton and give the defense a dominant one-two punch off the edge.Â
Not anymore. And Scourton's health concerns may not be the only issue.
Phillips played in just 12 games combined across 2023 and 2024. Patrick Jones II isn't any more dependable, as he appeared in only four games in 2025 and finished with one sack, though he did post seven back in 2024 when he stayed on the field.
Neither player is exactly reliable in terms of availability, and that leaves the whole unit exposed to one more injury away from bottoming out completely.
Some people have already connected the Panthers to guys like Jadeveon Clowney (who's now on the Houston Texans) and Haason Reddick. Or on the trade market, someone like Arizona Cardinals pass-rusher Josh Sweat could be a bigger swing.
However, Carolina should still improve on its sack numbers from a year ago.
Phillips is a huge addition, and paired with Jones and 2025 third-round pick Princely Umanmielen, who could easily take a leap in Year 2, this Panthers pass rush is a lot better than people are giving them credit for.
Still, that makes the edge group heavily dependent on health and development. And for a successful NFC South title defense, both have to be on Carolina's side.
That's why the biggest question facing Carolina's defense is becoming harder to ignore with every passing day: Is there enough pass rush talent left to make up for losing Scourton?
Right now, the answer remains uncertain, making the defensive edge one of the Panthers' biggest concerns entering the 2026 season.
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