4 burning Carolina Panthers fan questions entering Week 3 at the Raiders

Carolina Panthers' defensive problems

Throughout the two games so far, the Panthers' defense also seemed to have taken a step back… Once again with some draft capital and limited cap space, how can the Panthers address their defense properly? – Jack Lee

I’ll just piggyback off the previous answer since I was headed down that path a bit already. Thanks for the question, Jack, first and foremost. I appreciate the involvement with the mailbag through the first couple of weeks, even if it does require a full-body hazmat suit and wading through muck to find the goods. The goods are still there.

The defensive side of the football is as frustrating as anything with this team thus far. I understand, as you do, about the priority of the offseason being the offense and trying to insulate Bryce Young with capable support to find out who he is as an NFL quarterback. However, the moves that Dan Morgan, Dave Canales, Ejiro Evero, and Brandt Tilis signed off on for the defensive side are all looking funny in the light.

They sold fans the idea they were bolstering the run defense because you can’t win football games when you’re getting gashed consistently on the ground. The Panthers are allowing 199.5 yards rushing per game (31st), 10 rushes of 10+ yards (tied for 28th), and 4.9 yards per carry (24th) through two games. Derrick Brown’s injury certainly doesn’t help that crisis one bit, but the unit looks shaky everywhere.

The secondary has been torched for big plays in each contest. Communication breakdowns, coverage lapses, simply being beaten by the opponents - you call it. The most surprising for me with the secondary? How unacquainted Jordan Fuller has looked, being back in Evero’s scheme.

Jaycee Horn has been beaten, but he’s also made a couple of spectacular individual plays as well. He’s played physically. Mike Jackson Sr. came over just weeks before the regular season and he’s holding down that CB2 spot nicely while Dane Jackson is still on the injured list. But Fuller was supposed to come in and hit the ground running, also providing a big-time leader on the field, and I haven’t seen that.

It's a very small sample size and the game scripts haven’t been terrific. Both of those things should be acknowledged. But if the Panthers are hellbent on running a base 3-4 defense, they need to add speed (especially on the outside pass rush) and a true nose tackle to the interior of the defensive line.

They also had chances to do so in the offseason, for whatever that’s worth. But maybe D.J. Wonnum, Amare Barno, and Jackson are the missing pieces after all.

More Carolina Panthers news and analysis