The Carolina Panthers desperately needed to improve their pass rush after just one player on the entire team logged more than five sacks in 2024. Then just this week the team decided to release their best pass rusher from last season in Jadeveon Clowney. Who will step up?
The obvious name would be the first edge defender that the team selected in round two of the 2025 NFL Draft (Nic Scourton, Texas A&M). However, the absolute steal of the class for the Panthers probably has to be Princely Umanmielen of Ole Miss since he was selected at pick 77 despite an elite prospect profile. And apparently he's already putting in hard work at Carolina's rookie minicamp this weekend.
Princely Umanmielen, EDGE Ole Miss
Princely Umanmielen began his career as a Florida Gator where he produced for a solid two seasons, but eventually transferred to Ole Miss where he took his game to an elite productive level. Somehow the Panthers were able to snag him in the third round despite the fact that he posted the third highest pass rush pressure rate among all edge defenders in the 2025 NFL Draft class this past season, racking up well over 50 pressures and 11 sacks. Now he's already looking good at rookie minicamp.
Nic and Princely running drills pic.twitter.com/NrQMY0RCJo
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) May 9, 2025
Apparently the team knew how special both Princely and Nic Scourton could be as they confidently parted ways with long-time NFL veteran pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney this week. The Panthers general manager was quoted as rookie minicamp kicked off, talking through just how pivotal this early learning process was going to be for the two young edge defenders that the team will be leaning on heavily in the very near future:
"We're developmentally minded. We understand we bring [both Umanmielen and Scourton] in, and all those reps are valuable. This is a time to make sure they're getting the volume of the reps and learning."
HC Canales on Panthers releasing EDGE Jadeveon Clowney:
"We're developmentally minded. We understand we bring [EDGEs Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen] in, and all those reps are valuable. This is a time to make sure they're getting the volume of the reps and the learning."— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) May 9, 2025
Princely Umanmielen logged over 1,800 FBS snaps in college. Scourton, more than 1,500. They aren't novice pass rushers, but getting up to NFL speed will be critical, and the team clearly trusts that they can be immediate contributors.
Both Umanmielen and Scourton clearly understand how important they may be early on as well, as they spent the night on Friday after opening rookie minicamp practices running over various plays and pass rush moves together in their hotel conference room using chairs as offensive linemen (Scourton shared this with media Saturday).
Landing not one, but two potentially elite pass rushers–especially a 6'4" 250-pound monster with high level efficiency like Umanmielen–could prove extremely important in building the Panthers defense into a special unit immediately. Hearing that Umanmielen is already looking the part, working hard outside of the facility, certainly doesn't surprise Ole Miss fans already familiar with how special he can be. Now it's Panthers fans turn to get ready for potential greatness from the former Rebels star.
We'll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels and Carolina Panthers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
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