Player
D.J. Wonnum
EDGE · Panthers
D.J. Wonnum: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
6-year arc: from 7th-round Viking to Panthers starter, with a 2023 peak in Minnesota.
TrendWonnum defensive line by season
| Season | Team | Tackles | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | MIN | 14 | 3.0 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
| 2021 | MIN | 24 | 8.0 | 15 | 7 | 4 |
| 2022 | MIN | 20 | 4.0 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| 2023 | MIN | 30 | 8.0 | 15 | 7 | 6 |
| 2024 | CAR | 17 | 4.0 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | CAR | 21 | 3.0 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
Wonnum's 2021 and 2023 Minnesota seasons (8 sacks each, 15 QB hits each) are the twin peaks of his career. The 2024 move to Carolina cooled the pass-rush volume (4 sacks, 6 QB hits) but he's stayed a full-time starter for the Panthers across both years.
The 2025 line is interesting: sack number is down, but 5 PDs as an edge matches his 2023 career-high — he's playing more in coverage drops for Carolina than he ever did in Minnesota.
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 |
Minnesota years vs. Carolina years: pressure cut almost in half.
SplitWonnum by franchise
| Team | Seasons | Tackles | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings (2020-2023) | 4 | 88 | 23.0 | 49 | 24 |
| Panthers (2024-2025) | 2 | 38 | 7.0 | 11 | 8 |
In Minnesota he averaged 5.75 sacks and 12.25 QB hits per season as a starting edge. In Carolina that's dropped to 3.5 sacks and 5.5 QB hits per season.
Some of that is scheme — Flores's Vikings defense in 2023 generated pressure at one of the league's highest rates. But the workload split also matters: Wonnum has played a less pure pass-rush role for Carolina and a slightly heavier run-defense rotation alongside Derrick Brown and Jadeveon Clowney.
2023 was the career year: 30 tackles, 8 sacks, 15 QB hits, 6 PDs — career bests in 4 categories.
MilestoneHis final Vikings season set career marks in tackles (30), QB hits tied at 15, TFL tied at 7, and PDs (6). The 8-sack total matched his 2021 line. That production is what got him a 3-year, $42M deal from Carolina in March 2024.
The Panthers paid for the 2023 version of Wonnum; they've gotten a steadier-but-quieter player so far. Across his Carolina tenure he's 7 sacks in 2 years — exactly what he produced in either 2021 or 2023 alone.
5 PDs in 2025 — most of any season, despite the lowest sack total since his rookie year.
AnomalyThe 2025 line reads like a coverage-edge season: 5 pass deflections, 3 sacks, 5 QB hits, 21 tackles. The PD count ties his 2023 career-high — but he hit that one as a 30-tackle, 8-sack force. This year the PDs are leading the line.
That usually points to scheme: more zone drops, more spy assignments. Wonnum has the length (6'5") to disrupt throwing lanes when he's not pinning his ears back. Whether that's by design or by necessity (the Panthers' overall pass rush has not been a top-10 unit), it's a meaningful identity shift mid-career.
30+ sacks for his career — top 50 active among edges of his draft class onward.
RareWonnum career totals (regular season)
| Stat | Career |
|---|---|
| Tackles | 126 |
| Sacks | 30.0 |
| QB Hits | 60 |
| TFL | 32 |
| PDs | 17 |
| FFs | 4 |
As a 4th-year 7th-round pick — selected 117th overall in 2020 out of South Carolina — getting to 30 career sacks and 60 career QB hits by year six is solid late-round draft value. The dollar-per-pressure return on the Panthers contract is the open question.
Wonnum just turned 28 in February 2025. He's in the band where edges either hit a second pressure peak (Robert Quinn in his late 20s) or settle into a rotational role. The 2026 season tells us which.
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