Week 1 was a tough one for a lot of members of the Carolina Panthers‘ defense. After all, they gave up 59 points to the Chicago Bears.
Usually when the offense scores 37, you feel pretty good about your chances. But in this case, the Panthers lost by three touchdowns.
It likely set up a brutal week in the film room for the Panthers as they try to solve what happened before they play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 on Sunday.
Really, though, no one had a tougher season opener than Will Lee III.
The rookie cornerback’s afternoon had a case as the worst in the entire league.
Will Lee III Struggles
A stat is circulating that says Lee ranked 114th out of 114 cornerbacks that played in Week 1 (prior to Monday night).
The stat: Yards allowed per coverage snap.
Yeah, that’s not ideal.
Lee was on the field for 25 snaps for the Panthers, and he covered on 18 of them. He was targeted six times and gave up four catches for 90 yards.
Amazingly, Lee also missed three tackles.
#Panthers rookie CB Will Lee played 25 snaps. 18 in coverage. Lee allowed 5 yds per coverage snap (6 tgt, 4 rec, 90 yds). That mark ranked 114th out of 114 CB thus far in Week 1
He also missed 3 tackles — tied for most of any CB. He did make 5 tackles, as well as adding one PBU
— Ricky Raines (@rickyboboddy) September 14, 2026
The five tackles that Lee did make, mentioned in the post above, come back to the fact that teams are definitely going to go after him on the perimeter until he proves he can get stops.
No one on the Panthers could get a stop on Sunday, but Lee was certainly right at the heart of it.
The game must’ve been moving quite fast for the rookie, and he was just hanging on for dear life.
How Will Lee III Got Here
Lee was a fourth-round pick (No. 129 overall) by the Panthers in the 2026 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M, after previously playing at Iowa Western and Kansas State.
The 23-year old corner is listed at 6-foot-1.
He made 50 tackles, including two sacks, in his final college season, as well as defensing eight passes.
Lee had two INTs for Kansas State in 2023 and another two for Texas A&M in 2024 before not picking off a pass in 2025.
Fourth-round cornerbacks don’t always play as much as Lee did in his NFL debut, but against a Bears team that was going fast and spreading it out, Carolina needs all hands on deck in the secondary.
It was baptism by fire for Lee, who can only go up from here.
Panthers’ Rookie League-Worst in NFL Debut