The Carolina Panthers went all-in this offseason concerning their defense. In a stellar preseason debut, both Devin Lloyd and Jaelan Phillips impressed in Buffalo.
“And even though they’ve played a grand total of 23 snaps between them as Panthers, you could see the difference in Saturday’s preseason loss at Buffalo,” Darin Gantt wrote in a Carolina Panthers article. “Phillips played 10 snaps and had a sack and two tackles.
“Lloyd logged 13 snaps and had three stops, including a tackle for loss, when he shot through the traffic and dropped Bills running back James Cook in the backfield.”
The Panthers’ pass rush should vastly improve after picking up potentially two of the top defensive players in this year’s free agency class.
Carolina Panthers Players Rave About Phillips and Lloyd
Cornerback Jaycee Horn and Safety Nick Scott raved about Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd’s impact on the field.
“Just anytime you’re able to add good players like that to the defense, it changed the whole thing,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said in the Carolina Panthers article. “Like you’ve seen it today with Jaelen, him being able to affect the quarterback early, and then Devin, just the way he goes about his day-to-day operation, the leadership he brings to the group, he puts that on display daily.”
“First and foremost, I think one of the things that was really nice with just being with Devin is there’s no drop-off in communication,” safety Nick Scott said in the same article. “He’s somebody that learned the defense extremely fast, so he’s driving the bus out there like he’s been part of this for a while now, which is really encouraging. He made some plays, and he just really serves as a centerpiece for our defense, just getting there in on the run game and things like that.
“And Jaelen with the sack and the pressure, those are big. He’s taking points off the board for us and helping us slow down that initial drive that they had. So that’s definitely encouraging as a DB when you don’t have to be running around with a quarterback like Josh Allen who can do a lot on the run. He was able to get him corralled.”
Panthers Pass Rush Should Be Well-Equipped for 2026 Season
While Phillips was one of the top edge-rushers available, he is expected to produce in a huge way. In a CBS Sports article, Phillips was predicted to be the non-quarterback MVP of the 2026 season.
“The Panthers are surely hoping that Phillips is their MVP after handing him a four-year, $120 million contract this offseason,” Jared Dubin wrote in the CBS Sports article. “When healthy, Phillips has been very good both rushing the passer and stopping the run, and he’s heading into his physical prime at 27 years old. Carolina desperately needs someone to get after the quarterback after struggling to do so for the last several seasons, and Phillips is the guy the Panthers are counting on to do it at a high level.”
Meanwhile, Devin Lloyd proved he was one of the most versatile linebackers in the league in 2025. During the 2025 NFL season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the 27-year-old linebacker played in 15 games. He recorded 81 total tackles with 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery, five interceptions, a defensive touchdown, and seven defended passes.
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