After four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, pass rusher Patrick Jones II signed a deal to join the Carolina Panthers earlier this year. In 2024, the Panthers' quarterback pressure rate of 22.7 percent ranked last in the NFL. A gigantic difference compared to what the Vikings did last season with Jones on their roster, when they ranked second in the league with a 44.3 percent quarterback pressure rate.
Jones recently spoke with ESPN's David Newton, and when he was asked if Carolina could duplicate the pass-rushing success of Minnesota's 2024 defense, the young Panthers defender shared a statement that is one of the most delusional things anyone has said this offseason
"I definitely think we could do something similar, if not better. I've seen it before, so I know what it looks like. I look around the building and see we have exactly what it takes to do that."
Patrick Jones II thinks the 2025 Carolina Panthers could have a better pass rush than the 2024 Minnesota Vikings
It's great that Jones is confident about the outlook of his new team. But there's a big difference between being confident and being unrealistic.
Currently, Jones and fellow former Vikings draft pick, D.J. Wonnum, are on track to open the 2025 season as Carolina's top-two edge rushers. There's a reason why Minnesota let both of them go in free agency, and it wasn't because they thought they were on the cusp of becoming elite pass rushers.
According to data from PFF, Wonnum ranked 65th among all qualifying edge rushers in the NFL last season with a 10.7 win rate on pass rush snaps, and Jones ranked 98th with a 6.7 win rate. Those aren't exactly numbers that point to them emerging as the league's next great pass-rushing duo.
Of course, no one can predict the future, so perhaps Jones could end up being correct. But based on what he and Wonnum have done out on the field in their pro careers so far, them turning the Panthers' pass rush into an opposing quarterback's nightmare isn't something that anyone should be betting on.