Panthers may need to reach out to a familiar name after devastating Nic Scourton injury

Carolina Panthers fans received a harsh news update when they learned that pass-rusher Nic Scourton will miss the entire season with a torn ACL. 

ESPN stats show that Scourton, a 2025 second-round draft pick, shared the team lead of five sacks for last season. 

Carolina head coach Dave Canales suggested that he could embrace a next-man-up mentality. 

"We’ve got guys," Canales said, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "That’s why we keep bringing in depth, and talent, and different guys. You know, Jaelan Phillips is in that room. Pat Jones is back. Princely Umanmielen is coming along. We’ve got a whole group of guys that we’re counting on. So, if it comes to that, we have guys that we trust and are going to ask to do different things. But let’s hold off on that until we know what’s going on."

Who Panthers could turn to in wake of Nic Scourton injury news

Veteran Jadeveon Clowney immediately comes to mind as somebody the Panthers could target. Clowney featured for the Panthers during the 2024 campaign, and he more recently tallied 8.5 sacks with the Dallas Cowboys last season.

On Wednesday, Andrew Krammer of The Minnesota Star Tribune linked Clowney with the Minnesota Vikings. Krammer also named Kyle Van Noy, Haason Reddick and Derek Barnett as potential options for a team looking for a pass-rusher. 

Of course, it's far too early for one to guess how the Panthers will react to Thursday's developments.