Aug 21, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers safety Lathan Ransom (22) after the second half against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

3 major observations from Carolina Panthers' Week 2 snap counts

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Sep 15, 2025 8:16 AM ET

The Carolina Panthers have released their official snap counts from Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Some things changed from Week 1, and the Panthers played better, but there are still some curious things to point out.

Lathan Ransom has to play more

Sunday was generally a better day for the defense. They failed to make crucial stops at the very end of the first half and at the very beginning of the second, but they made some plays. This is partly because of more snaps for the young guys, but Lathan Ransom barely played yet again.

Ransom went from nine snaps to 12 snaps in Week 2. But that is not the kind of increase we need. Nick Scott still played 98% of snaps, and there's got to be much more of a split there. Playing other young players paid off, so why can't Ransom get more game action?

Princely Umanmielen made a major impact in very few snaps

Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The pass rush was so much better on Sunday, actually recording a sack and generally having better success in actually getting to the quarterback. Guess who recorded the sack? Princely Umanmielen, who finally got more playing time. He was also involved in another pressure.

But he still isn't playing enough. Clearly, he had success, so why did he still only get 13 snaps? He had a major impact in such little playing time, so why is he still being sidelined for Pat Jones (49 snaps) and DJ Wonnum (38 snaps)? Wonnum did pretty well, but still. Umanmielen should be playing way more. Nic Scourton got more playing time, but they should both be on the field a lot more.

Xavier Legette is playing way too much

It's really hard to think of an NFL team with a worse WR2 than Xavier Legette, who might've been replaced on the depth chart by Hunter Renfrow after yesterday. Legette has been positively awful, historically so, yet he continues to see a ton of targets and high snap counts.

He had eight targets and was on the field for 80% of the snaps. That isn't justifiable with how poorly he has played. Some of his snaps desperately need to go to Brycen Tremayne or even David Moore at this point, especially if Jimmy Horn Jr. isn't active during a given week.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: