Panthers' young star surprisingly picked as the team's bounce-back candidate

The 2024 season is one everyone on the Carolina Panthers' defense would like to forget, Jaycee Horn included. Although the star corner finally stayed on the field for a full season, it was a year full of inconsistent play.

Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus tabbed Horn as the Panthers' bounce-back candidate for 2025.

"Horn’s 2024 season had its ups and downs. On the positive side, he played over 1,000 snaps for the first time in his career and earned a team-high 80.9 run-defense grade. However, he also posted a career-low 59.1 coverage grade. He wasn’t helped by a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league across the board. The improvement of his supporting cast — including the addition of safety Tre’Von Moehrig — should benefit Horn as much as anyone."

Despite the somewhat disappointing season, Horn landed a four-year, $100 million contract extension this spring. Although Horn didn't play his best ball, I could think of several others who fit the bounce-back description much better.

Defensive lineman Derrick Brown essentially missed all of 2024 with a knee injury and needs to have a big year for Carolina's defense to even have a shot at improving. For the same reasons, center Austin Corbett comes to mind. He's missed a significant amount of time over the past two seasons.

Performance-wise, I'd consider right guard Robert Hunt and linebacker Josey Jewell. Hunt was certainly an improvement from what the Panthers previously had at the position, but he wasn't as sharp as he was in 2023 in Miami. If he can get back to that level of football, Carolina's o-line will be considered among the best in the NFC. As for Jewell, he was a bit of a disappointment last year, and with Shaq Thompson no longer around, they'll need Jewell to be a key cog.