The Carolina Panthers' 15th ranked total defense seems to be going nowhere with no immediate change on the horizon. Head coach Ron Rivera will remain the defensive play caller for the 2019 season, according to the Charlotte Observer's Jourdan Rodrigue. The NFC South is a rough division, and each team is trending up with their offseason moves except Carolina.
The New Orleans Saints are already a force to be reckoned with and the Atlanta Falcons just brought in a new offensive coordinator to revamp their offense. On top of that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just hired Bruce Arians, who is a very capable head coach. His resume speaks for itself with two AP Coach of the Year Awards.
Carolina finished third in the division ahead of just Tampa Bay, but they had the same divisional record. The defense that Rivera took over for their final four games went 1-3 record, and there wasn't much improvement from former defensive coordinator Eric Washington's unit.
The Panthers could interview and go after their former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Wilks left Carolina for a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals just a season ago, but he has since been fired.
Behind Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey, Carolina's offense seems to be in good shape heading into the 2019 season. The Panthers need to make some noise in the offseason to strengthen up the defense. It's possible that upgrades will be made, but as of right now, it looks like the franchise may have to use a majority of their draft picks on the defensive side of the ball. General manager Marty Hurney looks to have multiple interviews lined up this week for multiple coaching staff vacancies.
With all these new hires and draft picks, will Carolina's defense help the Panthers get back to the playoffs in 2019? Only time will tell.
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