5 things to watch in the Panthers’ last home game of the season

The Panthers offensive coaching staff is extremely familiar with Budda Baker. They trained against him in two games a year for six years. That’s why Dave Canales knows not only what Baker can do on the field, but how important he is to the entire defense.

“He’s really the heart and soul, the heartbeat of what they do and everybody responds to him,” Canales said Friday.

Baker is currently second in the league with 142 tackles, part of what Canales described as “just relentless attitude, attack, toughness.”

Doing all of this from the safety position doesn’t just make Baker a heat-seeking missile, though. He’s a chess piece, someone the Panthers need to pay attention to and pay attention to every time on Sunday.

“Also, he’s really smart,” Canales continued. “He’s an intelligent player. He’s not a guy who just runs around, you know randomly. He has a plan and a purpose to what he’s doing and then mix all those things in, that’s what’s so impressive about this guy.”

Added Bryce Young, “He’s just that ability to be around the ball, the role he plays in, it’s something you see super often around the league, but he plays it so well.

“I mean just being able to be around the ball, making so many instinctive plays, playing smart, playing fast. So for us, that’s something we have to take, we have to account for him, in the game, in the passing game, make sure we account for him…it’s going to be a unique challenge for us.”