Mike Jackson's Breakout Season: Panthers' Defensive Star

0:00For the NFL, it's March 6th. Here's what's happening. Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an update. The Carolina Panthers made big defensive gains in 2025 after a nightmare in 2024, where they surrendered a league high, 35 touchdown passes, and just 32 sacks over 17 games. This season, they allowed only 20 touchdown passes while generating 36. Carolina backed Mike Jackson emerged as their standout performer with a career best year. In his second season with Carolina, Jackson posted the second best coverage grade among cornerbacks at 85.8 from Pro Football. Focus. He tied for second league wide with five interceptions, ranked second and forced incompletions at 18, and led all cornerbacks in PFF wins above. Replacement. Analysts hailed Jackson as arguably the Panthers top defender, ranking him third overall among cornerbacks behind only Seattle's Devon Witherspoon, and Pittsburgh's James Pierre.

1:00He outpaced nine other pro bowlers or alternates in key metrics. Jackson started all 18 games, earned an overall grade of 83.5 better than teammate J.C. Horn's 57.7 in. Stars like Denver's Patrick Sertain and landed on the All Pro team. The duo of Jackson and Horn became a real strength in the secondary. It's surprising Jackson flew a bit under the national radar despite those numbers. With his ball skills at age 29, bigger recognition could be right around the corner. D&N is brought to you by our sponsor. A pillow that plays your podcasts, music, or white noise privately, no earbuds required. -S-O-L-I-SOL pillo.com. S-O-L-I-SOL pillo.com! S-O-L-I-Solopello.com! S-O-L-I-S-O-L-I-SOL Pillo.com.