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[Carolina Panthers]

Panthers 2025 season opener countdown: 26 days to go

Hello CSR! We’re only 26 Days away from the start of the Panthers 2025 regular season! To celebrate another day off the countdown, I’m going to talk to you about #26 for the Panthers; cornerback Chau Smith-Wade.

CSW as he’s known by many fans, joined the Carolina Panthers as the 157th overall pick in the 5th round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The former Washington State Cougar played in 14 games with 4 starts as a rookie, logging 39 total tackles, 1 pass deflection, 1 forced fumble, and 1 interception. He also logged 144 snaps as a special teamer (all stats via Pro Football Reference). That’s a pretty solid rookie year for a 5th round pick, as Smith-Wade ended up contributing just about everywhere he could for the Panthers.

Going into 2025, Smith-Wade figures to be heavily involved as part of the starting defense. The coaches have raved about him all Offseason, and he should see a ton of time as the nickel corner for Ejiro Evero. We’ll see if he can continue that momentum, but as a contributor at a position of relative weakness depth-wise, Smith-Wade should get every opportunity to show he was a gem of a late round pick in 2024. Let me know your thoughts on CSW below, and KEEP POUNDING!

Source: https://www.catscratchreader.com/ca...rs-2025-season-opener-countdown-26-days-to-go

 

[Carolina Panthers]

Panthers vs Texans: Preseason Defensive Preview

The Panthers defense looks to rebound from a 30-10 beating by the Cleveland Browns on Friday. Granted, this is the preseason, and the starters on defense didn’t play a ton much like the offense, but it did cause for some concern across the Panthers internet community. While we again cannot quite preview too many specific matchups due to the constant subbing in and out of starters for 2s and 3s on both sides, we can preview specific positions on the defense ahead of their 2nd preseason outing. Let’s dive right in!

The depth looks rough​

Across the defense as a whole, it seems pretty clear that they lack depth at virtually every position. That was my biggest takeaway from Friday’s game. There were flashes of some younger guys and veterans who made plays, but as a whole the defense struggled in basically every facet of the game once the starters began to leave the rotation. I don’t expect this problem to get any better on Saturday. But, what we can watch out for are the guys who stand out from the rest of the pack. More on those soon, but I say as someone who has watched the preseason for years and admittedly gotten too hyped up about guys who didn’t even make the final roster, I suggest watching for the bright spots!

Safety battle is picking up steam​

I know many Panthers fans did not like seeing safety Nick Scott out there opposite Tre’Von Moehrig with the starters, but I don’t think that particular battle is anywhere close to over. Demani Richardson had himself several nice tackling plays when he came in, including a sack, while Lathan Ransom got some work with the 2s and 3s as well. I would chock Scott being a “starter” up to his veteran status, and rather than focus on him getting snaps with the starters, I’d continue to keep my eye on Richardson and Ransom. Richardson excelled last preseason as well, and it seems Ransom has really started to get some attention at practice recently. Keep your eyes on those two for sure.

Rookie highlights​

The Panthers had several standout performances by rookies on Friday. Firstly, second round pick Nic Scourton was graded the highest by Pro Football Focus for all of last Friday’s games, and in general got tons of praise on Twitter/X as people were breaking down film. I expect him to continue to get valuable snaps since he’ll most likely end up being a starter/three down player sooner than later on this defense. He and fellow rookie EDGE Princely Umanmielen got to play a ton of snaps opposite each other, and I expect that to continue on Saturday. On the secondary side, UDFA CB Corey Thornton once again had a standout performance, a continuing trend throughout the off-season. As a long zone corner, he has the exact tools to thrive in Evero’s zone defense, and I think he’s making a real case to make the 53 man roster. I called him my standout player on defense in our CSR Slack Chat as the game went on.

What are you watching for from the defense, Panthers fans?

Source: https://www.catscratchreader.com/ca...anthers-vs-texans-preseason-defensive-preview