Patrick Mahomes winning eight games, Saquon Barkley rushing for 1,000 yards, and Stephen Curry finishing top-five in three pointers made. All those scenarios put more pressure on those players than the Carolina Panthers put on Trevor Lawrence in Week 1.
The Panthers haven't generated consistent pressure since trading Brian Burns. With two rookie edge rushers taken on Day 2 riding the pine, veterans like Patrick Jones II may be feeling the pressure.
Jones signed with Carolina in the offseason on a two-year, $15 million deal. The Panthers' brass hoped he added juice off the edge as a pass rusher and a good edge setter. After one game, I can’t say either is the case.
Patrick Jones II could lose reps to Carolina Panthers' rookie edge rushers
Carolina allowed 200 rushing yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars and only generated six total pressures — none of them converted to sacks — from 31 dropbacks. After spending as much money as they did on free agents, it looked like none of those moves had pushed the defense into being an adequate unit.
Jones was a part of the problem. Playing snaps before an ankle injury, he only had one tackle in 15 run defense downs. The bad doesn’t end there, either.
Pro Football Focus graded Jones with a 49.7 rating, finishing 117th out of 134 qualifying edge rushers. He was brought in to replace Jadeveon Clowney and mentor rookie Nic Scourton. There is a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead.
Clowney finished with 42 pressures and 5.5 sacks last season, and the coaching staff was not satisfied. If Jones doesn’t step up immediately, Scourton could be taking his spot.
Scourton was taken in the second round of the 2025 draft after Carolina traded up, being surprised that he fell that far. There’s no secret the organization holds him in high regard, with infamously tight-lipped general manager Dan Morgan revealing that the Panthers had a first-round grade on him.
The limited number of snaps in Week 1 could be a result of Scourton's recovery from a collapsed lung he suffered in joint practice with the Houston Texans. Even if that is not the case, Dave Canales has stated he encourages his staff to play the younger players. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN stated he believes Scourton and fellow rookie Princely Umanmielen could see an uptick in snaps after the defense's Week 1 struggles.
If Jones repeats his performance against the Arizona Cardinals and Scourton provides a spark in the pass rush and/or run game, we could see a permanent change very soon.