There’s a lot of “new” when it comes to the Carolina Panthers defense in 2023. They have a new defensive coordinator, a new defensive coaching staff, a few new players and a new scheme.
So, what should we except to see from Ejiro Evero and—at least to some fans—his mysterious unit? Linebackers coach Peter Hansen, who is also new to the organization, gave us an idea on Wednesday.
“I think the main thing we can expect is just the effort from the guys,” he said during his first presser in Carolina. “That’s No. 1 emphasis at this point of the year. It was an emphasis the entire year last year. And to do that within the defense, we don’t wanna give ’em a ton to think about play to play. We just want them to be able to fly around and use their ability.”
Another mystery for the Panthers surrounds the ability of Jeremy Chinn, who doesn’t have a defined role in the defense just yet. But Hansen had a pretty heroic way of looking at it.
“We’ll see,” he replied when asked of Chinn’s usage. “At this point, obviously, we haven’t gotten that far. But we’ll see what the future holds. Like a lot of our secondary guys, we see him a superhero. We just don’t know which cape he’ll wear from day to day.”
With the team’s switch to a 3-4 base as well as the addition of safety Vonn Bell, Chinn may no longer be roaming the secondary like he’s done in years past. He could, rather, move down closer to the line of scrimmage and play more as a linebacker in the middle of the group.
Whatever the case may be, Evero—who spoke about Chinn last week—also sees the fourth-year defender as a valuable weapon. They just have to figure out how to use his superpowers for good.
