Takeaways from Pro Football Focus grades for Panthers from preseason loss to Patriots

Panthers had 2 standouts on offense, several on defense according to Pro Football Focus grades

FOXBOROUGH, MA - AUGUST 08: Carolina Panthers quarterback Jack Plummer (16) throws pressured by New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss (53) during a preseason game between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers on August 8, 2024, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. / (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Carolina Panthers got their 2024 preseason schedule started off on the wrong foot last night, losing on the road 17-3 against the New England Patriots. While there wasn't much to like on the field there was still plenty of data to digest as far as Carolina's young backups are concerned.

According to the analysis by Pro Football Focus, the Panthers had exactly two standout players on offense, and their quarterback earned one of the lowest marks on the team. Things were better on the other side of the ball, though - where six players earned ratings of 77.0 or better.

Let's dive into the specifics for each phase of the game. Here are our main takeaways from Carolina's PFF grades for the Panthers this week.

Panthers offensive grades thin and weak

After those two it was pretty barren. Nobody else on the Panthers offense scored a grade higher than 65.0 and several were lower than 40. The worst of it came from center Cade Mays, who graded out at 33.7 overall and also suffered a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Jonathan Mingo was next up from the bottom at 37.6, and rookie quarterback Jack Plummer posted a 39.2 overall, including a rough 49.6 passing grade. In his NFL debut Plummer managed just 86 total passing yards, threw no touchdowns, took five sacks and fumbled twice.

Carolina's defense was much better

A familiar theme played out for the Panthers in this one, as their offense struggled mightily while the defense did all that you could ask to keep things competitive. It's a testament to their performance that the game was still winnable going into the fourth quarter with a 7-0 score.

The top performer on this side of the ball was outside linebacker Eku Leota, who was disruptive enough in the backfield to earn a 90.1 grade overall, including an 81.4 in run defense. Next up was fellow OLB Luiji Vilain, who posted an 89.9 overall. The bronze medal went to middle linebacker Claudin Cherelus, who posted an 84.5 grade on the strength of a team-high 85.5 pass rush grade.

Not every defender had a good night, though. At the very bottom was cornerback Willie Drew, who only played 10 snaps but earned a putrid 26.0 grade in coverage.

JJ Jansen still pacing special teams

As for special teams grades, the team's long, long, long, long-time longsnapper JJ Jansen (who has played 243 career games in a Panthers uniform) led the way with a 78.9 overall mark. Recently signed tight end Jacob Hollister (29.2) and rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace (30.0) had the lowest grades here.

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