David Tepper and the Carolina Panthers aren’t playing around anymore.
On Sunday, the team announced its latest move—the hiring of new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. And the addition of the popular 42-year-old coach has not only been a lauded one, but it’s a pretty astonishing development considering he was a candidate for their head coaching position as well.
So, what does this coup mean for the Panthers?
How about we start with the meat and potatoes? How will the defense now look under their new play caller?
Evero—who, ironically enough, got his NFL start under Carolina’s first-ever defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in San Francisco—will likely be employing a base 3-4 scheme. That’s what we saw out of him during a successful 2022 campaign with the Denver Broncos, his first and only season in this very position.
That, of course, means the alignment will be showing three defensive linemen and four linebackers along its front seven most times. In fact, it may not even have to be four linebackers, as Evero occasionally fielded six defensive backs in some of his looks for Denver.
But, do the Panthers even have the personnel to undertake the shift from their 4-3 defense? Well, they must—because Evero is all about players over scheme.
Here’s what he said about his plans for the Broncos ahead of last season:
I’d love to see Ejiro Evero bring a 3-4 defensive scheme to Carolina. pic.twitter.com/5soRz2ZkAT
— Michael Rimmer (@avl_mike) February 5, 2023
The players who’ll likely benefit most from Evero’s presence are the ones already leading the unit.
Brian Burns will go from a defensive end to a standup outside linebacker—in a role similar to what Haason Reddick has thrived under in Philadelphia. Frankie Luvu will join him on the opposite end, giving him more chances to utilize his explosiveness into and off the edge.
That dynamic duo would be backed up by Marquis Haynes Sr. and Amaré Barno, two more situational pass rushers with profiles to fit the bill. Plus, the inside—as it was even in a 4-3 base—must still be addressed regardless. (Perhaps we finally see safety Jeremy Chinn move next to Shaq Thompson.)
As far as the trench, the nose tackle spot has a few naturals in the 334-pound Marquan McCall, the 331-pound Bravvion Roy or even the emerging Derrick Brown. Otherwise, the slightly svelter Brown could play an as end in a potential partnership with free agent Matt Ioannidis—who already has experience in a 3-4 defense.
Then, from there, expect to see pressure, pressure and a little more pressure. Evero’s creativity in his scheming allowed him to dial up blitzes on 32.9 percent of opposing dropbacks, which accounted for the fourth-highest mark in the league.
In the end, that attack didn’t exactly result in best pass-rushing stats in football—as Denver finished with the ninth-fewest sacks (36) and the ninth-fewest pressures (123). It did, however, keep offenses to just 320.0 total yards per game—the seventh-fewest in 2022.
On what Evero’s arrival means a grander scale for Carolina, we can look back to the very first sentence of this post—they are not handling their change in staff lightly.
For the second time this offseason, the Panthers identified their man and got him. It started with head coach Frank Reich and extended into Evero, who became a serious target right before the Broncos parted ways with him last night.
Unlike how they largely operated under former head coach and czar Matt Rhule, Tepper’s Panthers have been taking a more collaborative and methodical approach to constructing their team. As Reich stated about a week ago, this isn’t all about calling up your buddies—it’s about calling up who’s best for the job.
It’s highly likely, around this time next year, that Evero will have already gone elsewhere as somebody’s next head coach. But for the time being and the season that’s to come, the Panthers are building something both new and exciting for a franchise that’s desperately needed a bit of life.
