Under new Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks, the Carolina Panthers currently have one of the most aggressive defenses in the entire NFL. Their blitz percentage of 41.1% ranks second in the league overall:

The Panthers mostly blitz either with their linebackers through double-A gap looks, or with their cornerbacks and safeties off the edge. Today, I’ll take a look at how the Panthers have been utilizing their talent at the cornerback position to effectively pressure opposing quarterbacks.

A big part of the Panthers’ defense is blitzing off the edge with slot cornerback Captain Munnerlyn from their 4-2-5 nickel sub-package. Munnerlyn is one of the more talented blitzing cornerbacks in the NFL. Although he’s a bit undersized, he has good short-area explosion and bend in his hips, which helps him turn the corner quickly and collapse pockets from the edge.

On this play against the Lions, Munnerlyn and Shaq Thompson both come blitzing off the edge, and Julius Peppers backs off into coverage. Notice how Luke Kuechly’s alignment over the center holds the running back, who is working inside-out in pass protection.

Munnerlyn almost comes in unblocked, but the back is able to pick him up at the last second. Stafford slips through a potential sack from Star Lotulelei, but Munnerlyn frees himself from the block and pursues Stafford from behind to bring him down for the sack.

On this play against the Bears, the Panthers rush four defensive linemen with Munnerlyn blitzing off the edge.

Munnerlyn’s impressive short-area quickness is on display here. Even though the running back picks him up, Munnerlyn does a nice job disengaging from the block to sack Mitchell Trubisky, who gets caught holding onto the ball for far too long.

The Panthers don’t blitz with their outside cornerbacks as often, probably due to the lack of safety talent available on the roster. Blitzing an outside cornerback like James Bradberry or Daryl Worley most likely means a safety will end up covering an outside wide receiver, and the Panthers don’t have any safeties on the roster who are capable of doing that on a consistent basis. However, you still might see a blitz from an outside cornerback if the offense chooses to align their outside receivers with a tighter split (closer to the offensive linemen).

Against the Eagles, notice how the tighter split from wide receiver Alshon Jeffery brings cornerback James Bradberry into the box.

Wilks smartly calls a blitz with Bradberry off the edge, and Bradberry is able to use his speed and bend to recover from the chip by the tight end to quickly sack Wentz for a loss on the play.

Here’s another play against the Detroit Lions, where the Lions put wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. in a tight split.

Daryl Worley comes in on the blitz, and his pressure off the edge prevents Stafford from breaking out of the pocket. Kawann Short is able to collapse the pocket form the interior, and ends up sacking Stafford and forcing a fumble that gets recovered by Thomas Davis.

The Panthers’ defense has been a very exciting unit to watch this year. They’re still far from elite, but it’s fascinating to watch Wilks’ new blitz-heavy defense after several years of mostly passive play-calling from former Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott. I expect Wilks to continue to be an aggressive play caller moving forward.

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