Why does Jimmy Horn Jr. remain a healthy scratch? Plus more in Panthers mailbag
The Carolina Panthers are 0-2 for a fourth consecutive season, and they’re down two starting offensive linemen for a while, and their first-round picks of 2024 and 2023 are under immense scrutiny again and ...
Well, that alone is enough to warrant another reader mailbag.
Here are three burning questions the fan base wants answers to ahead of the Panthers’ home opener at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Jimmy Horn Jr. and Xavier Legette and the Carolina Panthers’ future
On Blue Sky, skaxis asks: What’s going on with Xavier Legette? He doesn’t lack in physical ability, he just seems disinterested and devoid of awareness on the field.
Another X user: What’s Canales’ reasoning for leaving Jimmy Horn Jr. a healthy scratch? He should show Horn some of the same Legette faith.
Got a lot of questions about Xavier Legette this week. And understandably so. Some stats in particular make you wince. The 2024 first-round draft pick has four catches for eight yards and has been targeted 15 times in his sophomore season. He has a league-third-worst catch percentage of 26.67%, according to Next Gen Stats. He’s also losing yards after the catch, on average, according to NGS. (Yes, losing yards. He’s averaging -0.4 yards in YAC per reception.)
Not good.
But the more compelling question: In light of Legette’s struggles, does this make room for Jimmy Horn Jr.?
To that, I say: I think the two are unrelated.
I understand the connection, of course. Legette and Horn play the same position. Many, including our columnist Scott Fowler, are calling for Legette to be benched. But a benching does not magically make room on the team’s 48-man active roster on game days. What would do that is making Legette inactive — which I don’t think would be in the team’s best interest.
The team has a lot invested in Legette, after all. And making him inactive on game day could sink his confidence and risk getting the most out of a receiver the team really liked in 2024 — back when the Panthers traded up in the first round to get him, back when he was getting compared to DK Metcalf.
And for what it’s worth: Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Monday that he believes in Legette. That his 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns his rookie year is still the jumping off point everyone predicted. That Legette has earned that belief “because of the way he’s wired, the way he works at it, the way that he continues to train.”
Do I think Horn deserves time on the field? Yes. The sixth-round pick is fast and could potentially stretch the field for an offense in need of a speedster. And his chance will come, somehow, just as it did for Jalen Coker a year ago. He’s developing, getting better. The season still has 15 weeks, again.
But in any case, Horn’s debut shouldn’t come at Legette’s expense. Nor should it come at the expense of Brycen Tremayne — who had a wonderful Week 2 — or another guy with meaningful special teams upside. It’s a puzzle, no doubt. But a Horn for Legette swap isn’t the answer.
Protecting Bryce Young
On X, @SayyidAbdu36931 asks: Will Canales have the running backs block for Bryce when it’s a pass play?
The undertones of this question are deafening. And felt along the Panthers’ fan base.
Young indeed has faced immense pressure through two weeks. Some stats to bear that out: 36 pressures and four sacks in 99 dropbacks. Average time to throw: 2.67 seconds. Turnovers: five — two of which in Arizona were caused by pressure.
But was it exclusively the fault of running backs not picking up blitzes? No. It was a combination of several shortcomings, really.
On the fumble that Josh Sweat caused on the Panthers’ first drive this past weekend, Arizona dialed up a blitz that completely vexed Carolina. They had two down linemen and five others in a two-point stance and sent all of them, with Sweat doing a stunt that forced Rico Dowdle to block two rushers on his own. What could he do? There was another that comes to mind where Chuba Hubbard was late picking up a rusher on the outside after reading he needed to help on interior pressure; it led to a QB hit but a completion nonetheless.
We can go line-by-line, play-by-play. In the end, it’s tough to discern who was at fault for the pass protection breakdowns. Was it a credit to the Cardinals? Was it mere miscommunication among the offensive line, as players have said it was? Was it a product of the Panthers having to throw the ball 33 times out of the team’s last 34 plays by vice of score/situation?
What’s known is that the protection issues are real. And it’s tough imagine they get rectified after the injuries to Pro Bowl right guard Robert Hunt and center Austin Corbett ... and after the Atlanta Falcons’ upgraded pass rush got JJ McCarthy down for six sacks on Monday.
The Evero-old debate on defensive scheme
Via email, Paul asks: I wonder if you could comment on the 3-4 defensive scheme that the Panthers use. ... That scheme demands good linebacker play. Do the Panthers have the right personnel to successful employ such a scheme?
Canales has said time and time again that he believes in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s scheme. And yes, the system gave up the fourth-fewest yards in 2023, back when it was stacked with the likes of Frankie Luvu and Brian Burns and saw a breakout year from Derrick Brown.
But with this particular personnel, the scheme struggled. Particularly against the Cardinals.
Arizona’s two tight ends — Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins — combined for eight catches and 123 yards. Some of that was they were getting schemed open. But some were clear shortcomings in coverage. Tre’Von Moehrig lost a one-on-one third-down rep against McBride that would’ve yielded a punt in the first half. Inside linebacker Christian Rozeboom had a rough showing in Week 2. Trevin Wallace didn’t make many mistakes but also didn’t flash. Pass rusher Pat Jones II even was matched up against a tight end once — and the play yielded a 20-something yard gain to Higgins.
The good news? The run fit was stout. The defense only gave up 82 rushing yards — and against a mobile quarterback like Kyler Murray, that’s no slouch. This is the first game in eight contests the Panthers didn’t give up 200 yards rushing.
Is that rush total an abberation? Statistically, yes. But in practice, this run defense is already showing signs of life.
Last season, film showed that the defensive line was so atrophied, so overmatched, that they were losing the line of scrimmage battle seconds after the ball was snapped. That’s different this year. The team is playing well at the line of scrimmage — which makes everyone’s jobs easier. You could tell Week 2. (You could even tell Week 1, if you squinted past Travis Etienne’s 71-yard run that really turned the game over.)
I’m sure the enduring moment will be that of Rozeboom getting stiff-armed by Marvin Harrison Jr. on a tackle that was already going to be difficult. And yes, the team’s shortcomings against tight ends and running backs in the receiving game is cause for concern, and that rests on the linebackers.
But the run defense is better — and will continue to get better, if Week 2’s tape is any indication. That’s a credit in part to the linebackers, too, and is worth remembering.
