Big Cat Country
The Jacksonville Jaguars welcome the Carolina Panthers to EverBank Stadium on Sunday as the 2025 NFL season gets underway. Here are three key battles to keep an eye on:
You can tell real football has returned! Preseason whetted the appetite, but now is when results really matter, and as such we can have much more confidence in who we see on the field. And as it’s Week 1, we’re going to have a heavy focus on the star players on both sides of the ball…
After an incredible college career that finished with him hoisting the Heisman Trophy in New York, there are big expectations for Travis Hunter, and no doubt he’ll have the cameras on him for his NFL debut. But the best matchup to be found involving the Jaguars’ offense will be second year receiver Brian Thomas going up against Jaycee Horn. Thomas took just one season to stake his claim as one of the top ten pass catchers in the league, posting nearly 1,300 yards and 10 TD’s as he developed a strong chemistry with Trevor Lawrence. With some significant change at the position and Hunter making the step up, there’s a heap of pressure on Thomas to replicate a 2024 season that saw him earn All-Rookie and Pro Bowl honors.
He starts with a tough task. Despite some lean years in Charlotte, Jaycee Horn has shined for the Panthers. 2024 was his best season to date, seeing Horn join Thomas at the Pro Bowl after registering an impressive 68 tackles and 13 pass breakups in 15 games. Carolina are undergoing something of a transformation as they try and find their identity, but showed just how much they valued their star quarterback by tying him down to a 4 year, $100m deal back in March. Horn is the leader of a young secondary with similar leadership responsibilities to Thomas, and whoever comes out on top of this battle likely swings the probability of a victory in their team’s favor on Sunday.
Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales and his offensive coordinator Brad Idzik worked tirelessly to change the culture of the Panthers in 2024, the first season of their reign in Carolina. And by the end of the season, this Panthers offense was quietly one of the most potent in the NFL. There are still some question marks about the passing game, with Bryce Love still to win over some doubters; but this unit succeeds when they are able to run the football, and they lean heavily on Chuba Hubbard to do just that.
After an impressive college career at Oklahoma State, Hubbard flew under the radar in the 2021 NFL Draft, finally coming off the board in the 4th round. He was an effective contributor to the Panthers his first three years in the league, but his production EXPLODED in 2024 when Canales entered the building; Hubbard had the best year of his pro career,...
