Panthers News: Bryce Young, Derrick Brown, Pete Carroll and Week 3 game day
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers DL Derrick Brown's influence
Despite the Carolina Panthers failing to put a win in the column this season, there have been a few bright spots for encouragement. One of these is Derrick Brown, the formidable defensive lineman who is well on course to take another significant leap forward if the same trend continues throughout the campaign.
Brown came of age in 2022 and is clearly looking to build on this newfound confidence based on his production over the opening fortnight. The former first-round pick is also highly motivated with a huge contract extension on the immediate horizon - although Brian Burns remains first in line all things considered.
When talking about Brown's increasing influence, linebacker Frankie Luvu highlighted the Auburn product's ability to lead by example as a primary factor behind his improvements based on comments via Carolina's website.
"He's built for it too. That is a very special man. He's a big teddy bear. But I know how he leads at practice, and he's kind of taken that role, too. And when you walk in the door, I mean from the moment I got here, DB was the big dog, and leading from the front. So, I mean, nothing has changed for me; it's been DB throwing people around and being a bully."
- Frankie Luvu via Panthers.com
The Panthers will be relying heavily on Brown to make life difficult for quarterback Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks run game in Week 3. A challenge he's more than capable of meeting based on what we've seen so far.