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The had one of the NFL's worst defenses last season. By the end of the year, the Panthers ranked 23rd in yards allowed, 31st in points allowed, and 25th in defensive efficiency, per Football Outsiders' DVOA. In particular, the Panthers struggled against the pa s, ranking dead last in the league in DVOA.Ron Rivera's midseason firing meant Chris Owings Jersey changes were coming to the defense no matter what, but Carolina's offseason strategy made sure of it. The Panthers let leave in free agency, along with , , , , and . They declined to re-sign , , and Wes Horton, released , and saw retire. Combined, those players accounted for more than 60 percent of Carolina's defensive snaps last season.The Panthers made some minor additions in free agency to help soak up some of those departed snaps, but none of , Juston Burris, , , or seems like enough of a difference-maker to pull the defense out of the bottom-third of the league. That's why Carolina , adding , , and up front and , Jr., , and III on the back end.With so many rookies likely needing to play significant roles, Carolina's new defensive coordinator, Phil Snow, is not exactly expecting an from his unit."There's no substitute for experience," Snow said, per the A sociated Pre s. "The way we all learn is we get our butts kicked. In our busine s, that's how you learn. There are going to be some growing pains."Snow, who was new Panthers coach Matt Rhule's defensive coordinator at Baylor, saw his defense vault from 90th in 2017 and 105th in 2018 all the way up to eighth in Football Outsiders' FEI Ratings last season. (FEI is a measure of how a defense would be expected to be perform against an average offense on a neutral field.) It seems clear that Snow is not yet expecting a similar leap from his defense in 2020, but perhaps if they keep adding talent in the next few offseasons, they can get there in another year or two. If not, then it's likely Snow and/or Rhule will be looking for new jobs elsewhere. Shelby Miller Jersey