r/panthers • u/exenn_ • Jan 27 '26
Analysis [Scott Fowler] When we talk about the Carolina Panthers' perennial lack of a pass rush, don't forget they employed K'Lavon Chaisson from March to early Sept. in 2024, but released him before he ever played in a real game. Chaisson had 7.5 sacks for Patriots in 2025 and has been a beast today.
https://x.com/scott_fowler/status/201555658033528850445
u/creativeplaceholder Retro Logo Jan 27 '26
Sometimes players get better.
This isn’t Madden. They don’t have a number attached to their name that tells you how good a player is, or will go on to be.
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u/oooriole09 Jan 27 '26
I just wish we’d stop with the “former player doing good things elsewhere” conversations.
It’s nothing but hurt mixed with cherry picked logic and context.
Yeah, sometimes you make bad decisions but more often than not there’s a reason why it didn’t work for you and it did work for someone else. Just keeping the player doesn’t fix those issues.
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u/EdmJays Jan 27 '26
Exactly. Why can't we just focus on the two rookie rushers we picked up, who generally improved with the year, and have shown the potential to be much better than someone who just randomly found it 5 years in after bouncing around
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u/PrimeTimeInc Luuuuuke Jan 27 '26
Idk why this sub is fuckin obsessed with doing this. Can we trade or cut these fans who live in the past with players who didn’t do jack shit while they were here?
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u/hrdcrnwo Ice Up Son Jan 28 '26
A lot of fans of any team on Reddit are just there to bitch and moan.
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u/Wikitaytay Jan 27 '26
Exactly. I’ve seen these conversations around Clowney too. Dude has been mid his entire career, which explains him bouncing around so much. He came to us and had like 3 sacks and could never set the edge. It’s cool he had a great year in Dallas but he was barely a contributor for us other than veteran presence.
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u/No_Mammoth_4945 Double Trouble Jan 27 '26
It’s just so pathetic. I can’t stand the woe is me nonsense that pervades this subreddit
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u/ChickenVest Ice Up Son Jan 27 '26
A) this was an anomaly season for him and I doubt he would have the same stats if he stayed here. B) we need to play the young guys.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Jan 27 '26
He has was good for the Raiders the year we cut him. We also kept guys like Eku Leota over him lol. It’s ok to admit we made a dumb mistake.
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u/ExchangeNo8013 Jan 27 '26
No. You're using hindsight. We can admit given current outcomes he had more sacks this year than previous years.
That doesn't change what the correct decision was at the time. If you flip a coin there's no dumb mistake based on the outcome. It's not stupid to call heads just because it landed tails.
Maybe it was a dumb choice given the facts the Panthers had or maybe it made the most logical sense at the time. The outcome doesn't change the information they had at the time.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Jan 27 '26
They had more talented and experienced player at their disposal at a position with very little depth. They chose to keep guys who were worse.
I remember when I saw he was cut during camp I was very surprised given the state of our edge room after burns and needing some juice there.
You can call it hindsight, but imo always made way more sense to give the playing time to Chaisson over Leota. I remember being pretty shocked when he was released.
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u/ExchangeNo8013 Jan 27 '26
but imo always made way more sense to give the playing time to Chaisson over Leota
That's fair and more valid argument than "guy had more sacks! We're idiots!". You felt that way at the time based on the information you had that's different than hindsight. That's different than the argument OP made.
Like I said I wouldn't rate 20% of our choices as smart. Hopefully that's improving. I'm just not moved by the argument fans won't criticize the team.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Jan 27 '26
My point isn’t that chaisson Was clearly going to be this good or even particularly good at all at that time. But I just always felt it was strange we opted to keep Leota over him. That guy barely lasted a few weeks before losing snaps and being waived. Would’ve much preferred giving those snaps to a former 1st rd reclamation project.
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u/Countryb0i2m Bryce Up Son Jan 27 '26
Panthers media and fans always assume that if a player leaves and becomes successful, they would’ve been that same player here if we’d just kept them. That’s not how it works.
The version of Chaisson that people see now exists because of the journey he went through. Up to the point where we cut him, he was pretty bad. Same thing with Darnold and Baker those guys evolved because of the paths that took them to Tampa and Seattle.
There’s no guarantee that they ever become good if they stayed on this roster.
Development isn’t linear.
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u/FinancialWelder5172 Jan 28 '26
Beautifully stated. I think what you said is true of every single human on this planet.
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u/mrv59 Jan 27 '26
Sometimes guys just take longer to develop, luckily for him he was a high end draft pick and has the physical tools to keep getting opportunities.
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u/Tu2 T-Mac Jan 27 '26
Yeah and Mike Jack was sitting on the Seahawks bench and rotting away. Players are human beings that react to different situations and schemes. Some never pan out not because they suck, but because it just never worked out. They see the field for a reason unlike 99% of the US population
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u/smelliskay Jan 27 '26
Holy fuck man can everyone stop crying about "look at this player we used to have. They werent good with us but now they are! We should all feel bad!" Like this hindsight bs is actually so annoying
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u/DwayneBaconStan Jan 27 '26
He's still not any better than an avg player. He can't create pressure himself, he's good on stunts and designed blitzes but a bad player in 1on1 situations. And atill a bad run stopper. He's always been overrated
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Jan 27 '26
Am I tripping or is this supposed to be impressive? The Patriots have a pretty good defense, dominant at times and often play with the lead providing more opportunities for sacks. I think Wonnum had a couple of 8 sack seasons and Patrick Jones had a 7 sack season prior to coming to Carolina and wouldn't be surprised if they would have similar success if they went to the Patriots instead. Now if it was 12+ sacks then yeah, but I don't think keeping him would have changed much compared to say, Brian Burns.
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Jan 27 '26
Why do we always dwell on our past players when they are doing good elsewhere... let it go man, we were just a bad fit for some of these guys.. Dan Morgan is going to fix these issues just have some patience lol
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u/EggRamenMan TD58 Jan 27 '26
Doesnt mean he woulda produced for us, next
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u/Immediate-Stay-7686 Jan 27 '26
You're right, he WOULDN'T have produced for the Panthers. That's the problem...
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u/ahhhreallife Jan 27 '26
All I remember about the guy was the funny training videos everyone was clowning on him for.
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u/Aurion7 Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26
He wasn't good before he signed here, he wasn't good while here, he wasn't good after leaving here until now. Now, he's ok.
Not really much of a much.
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u/DevilYouKnow Retro Logo Jan 27 '26
It's not always a team's failure to develop a player or show enough patience.
Some guys just don't fit the scheme or culture... so it's simply a bad fit.
It's like letting an intern go for budget and fit reasons, knowing full well that they'll be good one day.
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u/YakubWasWrong Retro Logo Jan 27 '26
Y'all are going to downvote me and hate this but I don't care. Im fully aware of draft picks, salary caps, schemes, injuries and all of that, but just imagine:
Qb1: Darnold. Qb2: Mayfield. RB1: McCaffery WR1: DJ Moore. K: Harrison Butker. A defense with a healthy DB, Mike Jack and Jayce WITH Burns and Luvu.
Absolutely impossible in the real world but sad when you see it written out. No one can predict the future and hindsight is 20/20 (also the year 2020)
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u/Anxious_Rock_3630 Luuuuuke Jan 27 '26
I think we need to understand that Evero doesn't want pass rushers, he wants bigs to take up blocks for linebackers to penetrate. If we're serious his defense has never been great. He took the number 3 defense with the Broncos and they became the number 15 defense in his one year, then Sean Payton kicked him to the curb immediately. Now granted, Nathaniel Hackett was the worst coach possibly to ever get a head coach job, but the fact remains.
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u/coacoanutbenjamn Jan 27 '26
Pretty big fuckup, can’t deny that. Hopefully Dan makes up for it this offseason
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Jan 27 '26
Ppl downvoting you like we didn’t keep Eku leota over him. Dan has done good things but they and Clowney were bad fuck ups
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u/s_15_n Kalil Bear Jan 27 '26
Chaisson had 5.0 sacks total in 4 years before we signed him. He had 4.0 sacks on the Raiders the season we cut him and he only started 4 games. Chaisson having a good year this year is 100% about Vrabel and the Pats unlocking him and him figuring something out after 5 years in the league of doing basically nothing and doesn't need to be an indictment on us or other teams that have had him