Who is the Panthers’ Best-Kept Secret?

It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the league takes notice.

A couple of years ago when the Carolina Panthers drafted defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos in the second round out of Penn State, they believed he could turn into a consistent pass rusher. 

Unfortunately due to injuries, he has not been able to live up to that hype just yet as he has accounted for just six sacks in 26 games played. In 2020, he had to sit behind Stephen Weatherly and in 2021, he split time with Morgan Fox, who is now with the Los Angeles Chargers. 

GM Scott Fitterer has yet to make a move to bring in another veteran pass rusher which gives the notion that Gross-Matos is ready to make a major impact on the defensive side of the ball for Carolina. 

In a recent article by Maurice Moton on Bleacher Report, he tabbed Gross-Matos as the Panthers' best-kept secret.

The Carolina Panthers lost their 2021 sack leader in Haason Reddick, who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Yetur Gross-Matos looks like the next man up opposite Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns.

Gross-Matos saw his defensive snap count drop from

48 to 38 percent

between his rookie and second seasons. Behind Reddick, he became the primary backup off the edge. Now with an opening in the first unit, expect the third-year pro to take on a bigger workload.

Through 26 outings (nine starts), Gross-Matos has recorded 52 tackles, seven for loss, six sacks and

19 pressures

.

According to The Athletic's

Joseph Person

, the Panthers might add another veteran edge-rusher, though they may not sign someone right away, which gives Gross-Matos a chance to jump on the starting spot in the offseason program.

With Burns commanding a lot of attention on one end, Gross-Matos could take advantage of one-on-one scenarios and match Reddick's pass-rushing production from the previous campaign.

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