Carolina Panthers vet Tre'Von Moehrig responds to overblown criticism of his game

One of the very few things that went right for the Carolina Panthers in the first half of their 2024 season was their victory over the Las Vega Raiders in Week 3. That win was the first start of the year for Andy Dalton in place of Bryce Young, and he delivered an awesome performance (319 yards, three touchdowns, 123.6 passer rating) against the Raiders, who had an admittedly awful defense last year.

However, the Panthers could tell you that sometimes there are solid standout pieces who get overlooked becuase they're part of a bad defense. That was certainly the case for safety Tre'Von Moehrig, who had a strong year despite Las Vegas' many issues on this side of the ball.

Carolina's front office must have liked what they saw from Moehrig, both in Week 3 and throughout the 2024 campaign - because they gave him a pretty sizable three-year, $51 million contract in March that amounted to their biggest investment in an outside free agent this year.

We know that Moehrig will start for the Panthers - but that's where the certainty ends and the questions begin. Is Moehrig more of a strong safety, or a free safety? Will they sign somebody else to start next to him? And most of all, how will Moehrig perform in coverage?

One element of Moehrig's game that's probably underrated is his ball skills. Even though he's considered more of a hard-hitting box safety type of defender, Moehrig has totaled six interceptions and 29 pass breakups in just four seasons.

Those are excellent numbers for any safety and the criticism of this part of Moehrig's game seems overblown. Here's how Moehrig responded to those critics, per Joe Person at The Athletic.

"Maybe. I don’t really try to go out there and listen to what other people are saying. Maybe them being taken by surprise that that was my role and play style last year, something that they might have not been used to or thought I could have done. But I’ve always known I have ball skills (five interceptions and 18 passes defensed the past two years), so I’m not too worried about that part."

Moehrig definitely shouldn't have to defend his ball skills, but there's more to coverage than those numbers. He's also allowed 13 touchdowns and a 99.1 passer rating for his career. Meanwhile, PFF only gave him a 54.4 grade in coverage last season.

The Panthers do seem to sense that they need more help for the back end of their defense. Adam Schefter reported yesterday that they were interested in Jaire Alexander before he wound up signing with the Baltimore Ravens for dirt cheap because of course he did.

Carolina has also been sniffing around free agent free safeties, including Justin Simmons, Julian Blackmon and Marcus Williams.