A.J. Bouye will be wearing 24 for the Panthers, taking over a storied jersey number previously donned by Rasul Douglas, James Bradberry and Josh Norman. Bouye could wind up playing a different position, though. According to Joe Person at the Athletic, defensive coordinator Phil Snow told Bouye he’s needed at nickel back.
Bouye has 100+ games of experience in the NFL, most of which has been at outside corner. However, he has previously played nickel in college. Bouye’s shared some thoughts on the transition, per Person.
“When you’re on the inside, you know where your help is at. You can play certain routes easier, especially when you know concepts and know the game. . . That’s why it’s been kind of good for me, just learning that kind of early and getting a good feel for it.”
With Bouye projected to take over in the slot, we can go ahead and write in Donte Jackson and first-round pick Jaycee Horn as Carolina’s two starting outside cornerbacks.
What the pecking order aside from Bouye, Jackson and Horn will be remains to be seen. Carolina added another veteran in free agency with Rashaan Melvin plus another rookie with Keith Taylor, so there are a lot of new moving parts.
Whatever the arrangement is, Panthers fans should expect to see more man defense after being one of the most zone-heavy teams in the league last season. Their front-seven looks great, so if this 2021 corner class steps up to that challenge Carolina might just have a better-than-average defense.
