Three takeaways from Panthers coordinators, including Lathan Ransom stepping in

The second-year safety to come in cold and replace Nick Scott last week, and the returns were good. Plus more from coordinators, including taking shots downfield and punt return options.

Sep 24, 2026 at 12:51 PM

by Darin Gantt & Kassidy Hill

Linebacker Devin Lloyd and safety Lathan Ransom are seen during a game as the Carolina Panthers take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2026 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

CHARLOTTE — Football is very much a next-man-up sport. And that's easier to say than to execute.

But what defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero saw from second-year safety Lathan Ransom last week was impressive, because of the complicated nature of the assignment.

Ransom subbed in for an injured Nick Scott— who is very much the conductor of the secondary — and played a team-high 59 defensive snaps. Scott didn't practice Wednesday because of the rib injury.

"Yeah, Lathan did an outstanding job," Evero said. "The one thing you can never mistake about him is that he's always going to be prepared, and I've just got to credit this young man, really, since the day he walked into the building, he's going to do everything extra. He's going to talk to the coaches, spend time with the coaches in the building on his own, extra.

"I know he was meeting with the coaches all summer, on his off time, to try to just get up to speed and not only with our stuff, but NFL football in general. And so he's going to prepare; he's made of the right stuff; he's wired the right way. He's our kind of player, and so he's a guy that we have a lot of confidence in whenever he has to play; we feel pretty good about how he's going to operate."

Safety Lathan Ransom and linebacker Devin Lloyd are seen during Carolina Panthers game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2026 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

Short gains bolster deep passing game

The Panthers' deep passing game has exploded through the first two games of the 2026 season, putting Carolina first in the league in passing yards per game (312.5).

A lot of that is due to Bryce Young — who is second in the league with 648 passing yards — pushing the ball downfield at an efficient rate in big chunks.

Young is averaging 10.2 per attempt and 8.8 yards per completion, both tied for third overall in the league (minimum 25 pass attempts). He's throwing 15.1 percent of his passes on deep routes.

"It's a group effort, so it's a lot of investment we've had with the skills over the last couple of years, a lot of investment we've had with Bryce over the last couple of years of concepts and understanding what kind of space we're trying to attack," offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said on Thursday.

Tackle Rasheed Walker and quarterback Bryce Young are seen during Carolina Panthers game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2026 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

But as Dave Canales explained on Monday, it's not just calling deep shots; it's when you call those shots: "It's not just about pushing the ball down the field. It's when you take those attempts," explained Canales. "It's when those opportunities are there, calling it in such a way that it's there, and then also Bryce taking advantage of the looks. He's doing a great job of that."

And as Idzik added on Thursday, it's not just when you call the shots, but calling them and Young knowing when to do something different.

"As the game plans unfold, just me and him talking about, 'Hey, here's our spots to take our shots. Here's our spots to take advantage of some of the space the defense we think is going to give us," shared Idzik. "And he's done a great job of capitalizing. So I commend him for opening up that dialogue with me and being receptive to all the teaching that we've given him in our system the last couple of years."

Because it's not just about calling the game in a rhythm that opens up deep shots; it's Young remembering you never go broke taking a profit.

"Every shot called is not a shot taken," preached Idzik. "So that's a mentality you have to have as a quarterback. Bryce has done a great job of pushing the ball down the field. That's no secret. But even so, every shot we've called where there's a deep element to the play, if the defense doesn't cooperate, you've got to be willing to come down to your checkdown and come down to your underneath options, and he's done a great job of finding wins that way as well."

Center Luke Fortner, guard Robert Hunt, tackle Monroe Freeling, quarterback Bryce Young and tackle Rasheed Walker are seen during Carolina Panthers game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2026 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

And that football IQ is when everything opens up.

"It allows me to feel like, OK, I'm calling a first-and-10 shot or a second-and-10 shot, I'm not going to be left with a third-and-10 or a second-and-10 because he's still finding wins out there and we're still staying ahead of the sticks," bragged the OC.

"I can still call runs just to keep that normal down and distance for us. So I really commend him for that way of understanding what we're trying to attack, how we're trying to get the skill group to understand that plan of attack, and then also knowing when to check that ball down underneath to keep our system moving forward."

Returner duties to be determined

The Panthers surprised some people when they put starting receiver Jalen Coker out to return punts against the Falcons.

And then Coker surprised people by popping his first return for 36 yards.

So naturally, the status of the position is up in the air, considering Coker's status on the offense. As a result, the special teams coach gets a lot of different guys ready each week.

"He's been available; he's always on the list, and then this week he found himself on the top of the list and did a really nice job," Smith said.

Canales said he was surprised, thinking Coker might opt for the fair catch, and they were fine with that. But Smith has some anarchist tendencies that come out in practical applications.

Wide receiver Jalen Coker is seen during a game against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, Sep 20, 2026 at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

"Also, if you give those guys too many stipulations, you make the job harder," he said. "So if you let good players just make their own decisions, make plays, it comes out better. There's pressure on a guy who's explicitly out there to fair catch the ball. It's just a different kind of feeling. Everybody's quiet, and you've got to make this putt to win the game. It's a single free throw. It's a different thing than just in the flow of the game, passing the ball out to make a shot kind of thing."

Smith said at the present moment, he had six guys on his list of return options, and they work on the skills after practice. And while he can sometimes suggest to players they might be interested, this is a volunteer army rather than one that's been drafted.

"We have a post-practice crew who's always working on their skills at different things, really," he said. "There's a punt-catching group, there's a protection crew, there's a coverage group. That's when we really get extra time to work on your skills. During the course of the season, special teams kind of has to practice for the most likely things to come up in the game. But afterward we have essentially unlimited time to work on individual skills.

"Special teams, as you know, is people with the intention and attitude to do well. So, I can encourage volunteering sometimes, but it's a free country, free team."

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Quarterback Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.