The Panthers were willing to let Greg Hardy walk, and they didn’t replace him this offseason with an impactful pass-rusher.
But they’re hoping they can cover for his loss in other ways, and with other positions other than defensive ends.
The Panthers fell from a league-high 60 sacks in 2013 to 40 last year, a gap largely but not completely because of Hardy’s being sent away with pay following his domestic violence arrest. But Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman said there were other problems.
“The drop-off was with DB sacks,” Gettleman said, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “That’s where the big drop-off was.”
The Panthers’ secondary had just two sacks last year, after recording 11 the year before. While there’s some chicken-egg there based on losing Hardy’s presence up front, the line still managed 32.5 sacks after having 40 the year prior.
“I’m a big believer in you’ve got to be able to affect the quarterback rushing four. Then you start to get the back seven involved via blitz packages,” defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. “That’s a big part, and we need to get back to getting more from our back seven.”
While safety Roman Harper wasn’t able to get to quarterbacks often last year, the Panthers have upgraded their secondary around him in hopes of being more stable back there, which could create opportunities. And first-round pick Shaq Thompson, a college safety they’ll use as linebacker is likely a big factor there.
But without Hardy, the Panthers are still counting on someone from the lot of Frank Alexander (who missed 14 games last year with drug suspensions), Kony Ealy, Mario Addison and Wes Horton to contribute. And if they don’t, it’s going to put even more pressure on a secondary that had to cover longer last year than they were accustomed to.