Nick Scott may be doing better than thought.

[TD alt]

Nick Scott has gotten his share of Huddle hate, but I came across this SI article by Zach Roberts when I was researching recently released Quandre Diggs, speculated to be a better option  (https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2025/11/07/breaking-titans-cut-former-three-time-pro-bowler-quandre-diggs-4-destinations-ranked/3/), but getting back to Nick Scott...

Now to be fair, the observation on Scott was before the Packers game, but the stats couldn't have changed that much, and may have gotten better.

 

"At some point during virtually every Carolina Panthers game, you have probably found yourself grumbling about Nick Scott. The much-maligned safety has seemingly been out of position a lot or has failed to make a play. The eye test has often let him down.

"But that's why stats are so helpful. Sometimes, the eye test, especially for fans, is unreliable. On occasion, advanced metrics help make sense of things and lend more clarity. In the case of Scott, they make him look like a much better safety than any of us would've guessed.

"In coverage, Scott has given up just 15 yards and an average of five yards per catch. That's the lowest among safeties, leading superstars like Julian Love, Talanoa Hafunga, Quandre Diggs, Kerby Joseph, Kyle Hamilton, and Minkah Fitzpatrick.

"In FI%, the safety leads all his counterparts once again at 40%. Brian Branch, Camren Kinchens, and Xavier McKinney are some notable names he leads. He's been pretty excellent in pass coverage, which is crucial for the Panthers."

For those wondering, "FI" means forced incompletions.

Now I'm way past trying to figure out why X links aren't embedding for me like they used to, but here you go:

https://x.com/dacornerman/status/1981363757608513632?t=rx_5iLjp8_y5huNcg_y1nA&s=19

 

Suffice it to say that Scott may not be as bad as some have led on. 

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/panthers/onsi/news/much-maligned-panthers-db-way-better-than-think

 

 

 

[Donald LaFell]

Stats don’t tell the whole tale either. Coaches sometimes really like “their guy” maybe for reasons we don’t see easily. Sometimes they are human and stick with below average players like DJ Johnson 

[WUnderhill]

He did blow up that screen on Sunday which led to the fumble. I’ve also seen him single handedly keep drives alive for the opposing team.

[La Pantera]

[Khyber53]

Good insights. Maybe he's not a fully realized safety yet, but he's getting his game into place. It's a danged hard job to be a professional football player.

[kungfoodude]

PFR shows him has having allowed 16 completions for 321 yards and 2 TD's on 30 targets. This is a 113.3 QB rating on targets. It is the 3rd worst QB Rating allowed in his 7 year NFL career.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

He's regularly the worst player on the field for either team and Ransom - a 4th round rookie - has consistently outplayed him.

[LinvilleGorge]

When you're relying on stats to convince you your eyes are lying you're misusing stats. This is what leads people to clinging to "big time throws" and "GWDs". 

[L-TownCat]

When Nick Scott does something positive, it’s a surprise.  When he’s the reason things go wrong it’s not.

/thread

[WUnderhill]

10 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

When you're relying on stats to convince you your eyes are lying you're misusing stats. This is what leads people to clinging to "big time throws" and "GWDs". 

Only took 7 posts to turn a Nick Scott thread into a Bryce Young complaint session. I remember you banning a poster for being a “single issue poster” before.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, WUnderhill said:

Only took 7 posts to turn a Nick Scott thread into a Bryce Young complaint session. I remember you banning a poster for being a “single issue poster” before.

Just providing another example of the same phenomenon but you want to run with the other example and argue about that. That's a you problem.

[Cam's New Arm]

He smacked the fugg out of Fields. That was for sure. 

[Dave Gettleman's Shorts]

37 minutes ago, Cam's New Arm said:

He smacked the fugg out of Fields. That was for sure. 

he almost knocked out our best player that afternoon

[OldhamA]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

When you're relying on stats to convince you your eyes are lying you're misusing stats. This is what leads people to clinging to "big time throws" and "GWDs". 

Especially when you cherry pick stats.

He's often the guy on the screen missing the crucial tackle.