Panthers Vs Cardinals: Defensive Preview

Hello CSR! One more day until we get that precious, precious first preseason game. Its been a long off-season, but something resembling professional football is finally here!

The Panthers (backup) defense will face off against a Cardinals (backup) offense led by Carson Beck this week, the 3rd round pick from this past draft at quarterback, so Arizona fans will likely be heavily invested in how the Cardinals offense looks in this game. The Panthers will be getting a look at several defensive backs and defensive linemen from the back end of their roster. Let’s take a look at what to watch for.

Back up pass rush

With Nic Scourton on the shelf for the 2026 season, the Panthers won’t be playing Patrick Jones or Jaelan Phillips, and I wouldn’t be shocked if 2025 3rd round pick Princely Umanmielen doesn’t see much work in this game either. This leaves Trevis Gipson, Thomas Incoom, Cam Gill, and Nick Hampton expected to get the majority of the snaps throughout the game. These preseason games are opportunities for one of them to claim a primary backup spot at OLB as the 4th guy on the depth chart essentially. How well they do against a rookie quarterback and the 2nd and 3rd teams should be monitored.

The Corey Thornton and Will Lee show

With Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn entrenched as the top 2 CBs, they definitely won’t play in this game. Its also possible Chau Smith-Wade doesn’t see a ton of work as a guy who has been through several preseasons in Carolina. One of the more interesting things to monitor during training camp has been the extensive work 2025 UDFA Corey Thornton and 2026 4th round pick Will Lee have gotten. Both should be safe to make the roster, and both could be major factors into the depth conversation going into the regular season. They may not play more than a quarter or two, but seeing how they perform will both be fun and will have real consequences for this team. I’m excited to see Will Lee go mix it up as an outside corner for the first time.

Interior Defensive line rotation

Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown III and Cam Jackson are both listed as the starting interior DL, but I could see Cam Jackson getting some action here after limited time in year one. Then the Panthers spent a 2nd round pick on Lee Hunter so he should be heavily involved from day one. Behind them, there’s definitely going to be space for someone to make the roster as key depth. Joe Person of the Athletic reported after practice on Tuesday that LaBryan Ray was placed on the reserve/retired list, so its unclear when he can or will return, and he’s been a major rotational piece for a few seasons now. So that leaves plenty of snaps on Thursday for Jared Harrison-Hunte, Aaron Hall, Elijah Garcia, Tywone Malone, and Kyon Barrs, who all should see a decent amount of time during these 4 quarters of an extra preseason game. I personally have my eyes on Aaron Hall, who has been said to be very impressive this off-season thus far.

What are you watching for on the defensive side on Thursday?