The Carolina Panthers wrapped up their expanded preseason slate with a 16-13 win over the Houston Texans on Friday, finishing the summer at 3-1 as they get ready to defend an NFC South title for the first time in a decade.
On an individual level, though, the story was in the grades. Pro Football Focus handed out some sharp highs and a few rough lows from the finale, with a handful of Panthers making the most of their last preseason chance.
Ja'Tyre Carter headlined the offense with a 79.7 grade at right guard. He was clean in both phases, posting an 80.6 in pass blocking and a 76.1 in run blocking, and he didn’t allow a single pressure across 24 chances. Wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. checked in next at 75.4, followed by David Moore at 75.0, tight end Caden Prieskorn at 72.3 and tight end James Mitchell at 70.0.
Moore did his damage in a straightforward way, catching three passes and turning every one of them into a first down for 34 yards.
At the other end of the offensive list, right tackle Albert Reese came in at 52.5, with wide receiver Brycen Tremayne at 51.9, center Sam Hecht at 51.7, wide receiver John Metchie III at 51.6 and running back Miles Davis at 47.3. Reese was tagged for a team-high four pressures, while no other Panther gave up more than one. Metchie, who entered the game as Carolina’s leading preseason receiver, finished with one catch for five yards on three targets.
The defense had two names tied at the top: inside linebacker Trevin Wallace and cornerback Robert Rochell both earned a 91.7. Outside linebacker Trevis Gipson followed closely at 91.3, defensive tackle Elijah Garcia posted an 87.4 and inside linebacker Claudin Cherelus rounded out the top five at 82.5.
Wallace and Gipson each recorded a sack on Houston’s opening drive, and Gipson’s two pressures helped him land Carolina’s best pass-rushing grade at 91.8. Garcia added two pressures of his own along with three stops.
The lower end of the defensive grades belonged to cornerback Corey Thornton at 54.2, cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson at 54.0, outside linebacker Isaiah Smith at 53.6, safety Isaiah Simmons at 53.3 and defensive tackle Aaron Hall at 47.5. Thornton’s night was especially quiet in coverage, where he was assigned the second-lowest grade on the unit at 52.6 and allowed an 11-yard catch on the only target he saw.
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Panthers Spent A Future Pick On A Quiet Cutdown Day Addition
The Chargers cutdown-day business gave Carolina a small but notable foothold for the future, as the Panthers added undrafted defensive lineman TeRah Edwards in a trade that sent Los Angeles a 2028 sixth-round pick. It was a quiet roster move on the surface, the kind that barely registers outside of a transaction wire, but it fit into the Chargers broader effort to squeeze value from the edges of their initial 53-man roster.
For Carolina, the deal is another reminder that not every roster addition comes with immediate fanfare. Edwards arrives as a low-cost flier with a draft-pick price attached, and the Panthers clearly saw enough in him to justify parting with future capital. Whether the move turns into anything more than depth will take time to learn, but this is the sort of transaction teams make when they believe a player is worth a longer look than a normal waiver claim. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Should Notice The QB Who Keeps Forcing Bigger Moments
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Deion Sanders added another layer to the story by pointing back to a game when King helped Georgia Tech beat Colorado, a reminder that his biggest moments have a habit of showing up when the stakes rise. For Carolina, that makes King more than a camp success story. It gives the Panthers a young quarterback whose value may keep growing every time the lights get brighter. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Linebacker Shakeup Just Cost Carolina A Recent Draft Pick
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Carolinas Week 1 group now features Devin Lloyd, Okereke, Claudin Cherelus and Jackson Kuwatch, leaving a very different look than the one Wallace was trying to crack in camp. For a team still sorting out its linebacker rotation, the loss of a recent draft pick is another reminder that roster decisions in late August can carry real consequences well into the season. [Read more 🡒]