The Carolina Panthers have spent the last few years trying to build Bryce Young a real supporting cast. The problem is that, heading into 2026, the finished product still looks incomplete.
There are pieces here, sure. The pass-catching group has at least given Young something workable to lean on, but it’s not the kind of room that scares defenses.
Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker are carrying the load, and that says a lot about how thin the rest of the depth chart is. Pro Football Focus placed the group 22nd in the league, and that feels about right when you look beyond the top two names.
“Beyond those two, there is very little proven talent to speak of in this receiving room. Tight ends Ja’Tavion Sanders and Tommy Tremble have combined for four straight PFF receiving grades in the 50.0s over the last two seasons,” the blurb for the Panthers read.
The ground game hasn’t given Young much relief, either. Carolina has tried to create a functioning rushing attack, but the results haven’t matched the effort.
Even with Rico Dowdle last year, the run game fell short, and PFF has the unit 27th this season. Chuba Hubbard, Trevor Etienne, and AJ Dillon all bring question marks, while Jonathon Brooks remains the wild card.
“Question marks remain over the health of Jonathon Brooks, who has taken just nine handoffs since he was drafted 46th overall two years ago,” the blurb read.
If there’s one area where the Panthers have at least done a better job, it’s up front. The offensive line has been the strongest part of the offense, but even that comes with a warning label. PFF called it a top-five unit most likely to regress, and the concern is rooted in availability as much as talent.
That line looked good in 2025, but 2026 could be a different story because so many key names are either out or unavailable for now. Ikem Ekwonu, Taylor Moton, Austin Corbett, and Cade Mays all posted PFF grades of 66.0 or better, and all four are gone at the moment.
“Ekwonu is expected to miss the majority of the season after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon in the playoffs, while Moton will be sidelined into the starting slate due to blood clots in his lung. Also, former starting center Cade Mays headed to Detroit, while Corbett is now in Buffalo,” PFF analyst Bradley Locker wrote.
Locker also pointed to the newcomers Carolina brought in - Monroe Freeling, Rasheed Walker, Sam Hecht, and Luke Fortner - but there’s a lot of turnover baked into that group. Freeling and Hecht will also be trying to prove themselves as rookies in their first NFL season.
So yes, the Panthers have made an effort around Young. But effort and execution aren’t the same thing.
The receiver room is only partially reliable, the run game still looks shaky, and even the offensive line has a major regression risk hanging over it. For a quarterback in what’s being treated as a make-or-break year, that’s a lot of uncertainty to carry.
In Other News...
Panthers Suddenly Have A Real QB Decision Behind Bryce Young
Bryce Young remains the Carolina Panthers starter heading into the season, but the preseason has at least given the team something it didnt have a few weeks ago: a legitimate backup discussion. Undrafted rookie Haynes King has flashed enough in limited action to stand out from the other quarterbacks on the roster, giving the Panthers a look at a young passer whose energy and poise have made him easy to notice.
The bigger picture still points to Young keeping the job, and the Panthers are not expected to make a sudden change at quarterback this year. Even so, King has played well enough to make a roster case of his own, and the development angle is hard to ignore for a team that could use stability behind its starter. At minimum, he has turned the backup spot into something worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Still Have Something To Prove After That Division Title
Winning the NFC South and finishing 8-9 gave Carolina a division banner, but it did not erase the feeling that the Panthers were still a team trying to figure out how high their ceiling really is. The 2025 season ended with a narrow Wild Card loss to the Rams, 34-31, a reminder that the margin between a playoff berth and a deeper run is still thin for this group.
Now the expectations are already cooling around Carolina heading into 2026. The Panthers' projected win total sits at 7.5, and the betting market is leaning under, a sign that the league is waiting to see whether last season was the start of something sturdier or simply a brief surge before the next step back. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Tight End Battle Just Put JaTavion Sanders On Notice
JaTavion Sanders entered the summer trying to carve out a bigger role in Carolina after an uneven start to his NFL career, one that has produced modest totals over 29 games. The Panthers decision to bring in Darren Waller changed the tenor of the tight end room quickly, because Waller is now expected to open the season as the starter and leave Sanders fighting to stay relevant in a crowded spot.
Sanders did himself no favors in a recent preseason game, when he managed just one catch for six yards. With the regular season approaching, the question is no longer just how much Carolina can get out of him, but whether there is still a place for him on the roster at all. [Read more 🡒]