Of the 88 men currently on the Carolina Panthers roster, which three top them all? Pro Football Focus’s Trevor Sikkema’s got an answer.
Sikkema recently set out to name each NFL team’s best three players heading into the 2023 campaign. And for the Panthers, he settles on edge defender Brian Burns, cornerback Jaycee Horn and right tackle Taylor Moton.
Despite earning a top-10 pick — and selecting No. 1 overall in the end — the Panthers actually have a handful of relevant players for this exercise. But almost all of them come from the defensive side of the ball. Horn and Burns are two of the best young players in the game. Moton took a bit of a step back last season with a 69.3 overall grade, but his 82.5 pass-blocking grade still stood out, as does his consistent high-level play over the past few years.
As Sikkema notes, that defensive duo is quite an impressive one. Burns, who’s set for a mega extension very soon, has been selected as a Pro Bowl starter for two straight seasons while Horn (when healthy) has proven to be one of the stingiest one-on-one cover men in the game.
Although not as heralded, Moton is also a keeper. How can you not love yourself a rock-solid hog molly who hasn’t missed a single snap since 2019?
Just missing the cut for Carolina are three more defenders—linebackers Shaq Thompson and Frankie Luvu and defensive tackle Derrick Brown:
Shaq Thompson and Frankie Luvu make cases at the linebacker level, while Brown took a major step forward in 2022, leaping from a 64.4 grade in 2021 to an 84.4 mark in 2022. He could very well be on this top-three list if he has a similar season in 2023.
