Are the Carolina Panthers Fun Now?
The Carolina Panthers have been a laughing stock since 2018. Will that change this year?
The Carolina Panthers had one of the more eventful offseasons among NFL teams this year. They spent a ton of money investing in veteran defensive talent (Tre’von Moehrig, Turk Wharton, Bobby Brown, and Patrick Jones) and maintained their entire offensive line (both the starters and depth).
Carolina also drafted WR Tetairoa McMillan and edge rushers Princely Umanmielen and Nic Scourton.
That’s a massive infusion of talent - one that brings them several steps closer to competency. The addition of McMillan, in particular, theoretically gives this team the best offensive weapon the Panthers have had since the departures of DJ Moore and Christian McCaffrey in 2022-23.
McMillan coming into the draft was billed as an early- to mid-first round pick by most, and one of the few pass-catchers in the class that had true WR1 potential.
For Bryce Young’s development - McMillan is easily the most investment the Panthers have shown in surrounding him with talent. And McMillan is an addition that could prove to transform this Panthers offense.
Establishing The Floor: The Running Game
The Carolina Panthers had one of the best run games in the NFL in 2024, with Chuba Hubbard gaining nearly 1200 yards on the ground (4.8 yards per attempt) with 10 touchdowns. The team was efficient, consistently moved the line of scrimmage further down the field, with head coach Dave Canales a consistent commitment to running the ball.
A lot of this transformation came, at least in part, due to the signings of guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis in the 2024 offseason. The Panthers went from having a guard rotation deeper than most NBA rosters to two constant, above-average starters surrounding their center.
Hunt in particular was a transformative signing - he was a large part of the reason the Panthers line went from one of the worst in the league, to one of the best, in a single season.
Between the upgrades on the offensive line last season and Hubbard’s development - the efficiency of this Panthers offense compared to 2023 was staggering. It raised the floor from unwatchable, to keeping Carolina in most games.
Hubbard finished with a top-10 rushing grade, per PFF, among running backs with more than 100 carries in 2024. The Panthers also finished seventh as a team in run blocking grade - a far cry from the bottom-5 run blocking grade in 2023.
And while a lot of times, offensive line play can depend on continuity week-to-week, the Panthers had nine different offensive lineman take more than 200 snaps in 2024 - with not a single starter playing the entire season. To have consistent top-10 offensive line play despite injuries is impressive, and a testament to the infrastructure and system that Canales and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert have instilled.
Establishing The Ceiling: The Wide Receiver Room
The Carolina Panthers have invested a ton into their receiving room over the past 14 months. They spent a late first-round pick on Xavier Legette - who had his up’s and down’s as a rookie. They also found Jalen Coker - seemingly a diamond in the rough - as an undrafted free agent.
This offseason, they spent a top-10 selection on a wide receiver - this time in the 6-foot-4, highly-productive Tetairoa McMillan (as well as a sixth-rounder on Colorado standout Jimmy Horn).
That’s a ton of investment into a room that was simply broken just two years ago.
The Panthers have added size, speed, and talent to a room that desperately needed it. McMillan, from a fit perspective, works incredibly well with what Bryce Young is best at - throwing in-breaking routes.
The anticipation and confidence to make these throws consistently is one of the traits that makes Bryce Young so promising in 2025. Paired with McMillan’s ability to make the most of these opportunities, the fit could not be better for Carolina’s top target.
I’m cautiously optimistic on what the Panthers passing offense could look like in 2025 - in part because of the heavy investment in the wide receiver room. Between the floor that the running game brings, and the ceiling that the pass catching room provides, the Panthers offense should have the expectation to be firmly above-average, despite the struggles they’ve had over the past half-decade.
The Swing Factor: Bryce Young
Bryce Young is ultimately going to determine whether this Panthers team thrives or struggles in 2025. After being benched in week three for Andy Dalton, it was uncertain whether Bryce Young would even see the field again in a Panthers uniform.
Fighting for his place in the league, he earned the chance to prove himself as a capable starter in 2025 after a late-season surge. Young finished the 2024 campaign with 2300 total yards, 20 touchdowns and 8 turnovers from weeks 8 through 18. That’s incredibly promising for not only a second-year quarterback, but for someone whose NFL career was in jeopardy just 45 days earlier.
Bryce Young will have to continue to prove that he’s worth building around - but the infrastructure is there for this Panthers offense to be a top-10 unit in 2025 - if things break right. It will take Young playing to or exceeding his late-2024 performances, but it is absolutely possible for him to do so.
Ultimately, there are two bars to cross, the first of which is continued competency. Bryce Young needs to continue to prove he belongs in the NFL, particularly as a starting quarterback. If he can do that, it will go a long way for this Panthers offense.
The second bar is becoming a quarterback that can actively win you games. This is a much greater lift, and a threshold that only 10-12 quarterbacks can pass at any given point in time. At that point, the Panthers would become more than just a ‘fun team,’ but rather one that continually builds towards the playoffs.