Yetur Gross-Matos Hyped To Use His Athleticism More

Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos has staked his claim to be one of the pillars of the Carolina Panthers’ new defense.

This offseason the Panthers hired highly-rated defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. As a result Carolina will shift from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense.

Yetur Gross-Matos started 17 games at defensive end last season. Players like him will now have to drop into coverage as an outside linebacker.

The fourth-year pro has only dropped into coverage 24 times since being drafted in the second round in 2020.

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Yetur Gross-Matos has been good for Carolina without being amazing. In three seasons he has 8.5 sacks and 106 tackles. He’s looking at the arrival of Ejiro Evero as an opportunity to develop his game.

“My initial reaction was a breath of fresh air,” Gross-Matos said. 

“I’m excited about it; I know they’re excited about it. We can talk about it all day because it’s new for all of us. So (we) just try and learn as much as we can from each other’s mistakes and what we do well.”

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“Before, I was playing D-line, but I was really taking on a lot of double-teams and just in the trenches,” Gross-Matos said. 

“Now, I’m really able to use my athleticism more, running more, covering. We outside linebackers consider ourselves the alphas of the defense because we can do it all — rush the quarterback, cover guys, look at formations. So it’s a bigger responsibility. But, you know, I’m all about it. And it’s been fun.”