Last week’s question around the Panthers’ QB2 spot came down to a pretty simple idea: which of Carolina’s three backups can make the strongest case in training camp behind Bryce Young?
The candidates are Will Grier, Haynes King, and Kenny Pickett, and each one brings a different kind of appeal - plus enough baggage to keep the conversation messy. That’s exactly why this feels like one of those late-offseason debates fans can’t help but pick apart.
Grier is the name that drew the least enthusiasm. The Charlotte-area native first joined the Panthers in 2019, then got cut after the 2021 Sam Darnold trade.
That move marked the end of the Ron Rivera era and the beginning of the Matt Rhule fiasco. Since then, Grier has bounced around to five other NFL teams.
Teams clearly keep seeing something in him at practice, but most fans aren’t eager to relive what his return brings back.
For a lot of people, the real split is between a known backup and a long-shot upside play.
Pickett fits the first category. He was the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers trying to put it all together.
Once the Steelers signed Russell Wilson in 2024, Pickett asked for what turned into the first of several trades. He went from Pittsburgh to the Philadelphia Eagles, then to the Cleveland Browns, then to the Las Vegas Raiders.
That path carried him through 2025, through the end of his rookie contract, and into this offseason with Carolina. At this point, he looks like a usable No. 2 - but not somebody who should be expected to do much more than that.
King is the wild card. He’s the least proven of the group, but also the one with the most untapped intrigue.
At Georgia Tech, he was an electric dual-threat quarterback, even if he didn’t quite do enough to draw much draft interest. He went undrafted, which is its own warning label in a league that is always starving for quarterbacks.
Still, there are people intrigued by the idea of him in something like a Taysom Hill-type role for the Panthers.
Training camp and the preseason can always change the picture, but the most likely outcome looks straightforward: Pickett wins the backup job, and King ends up on the practice squad. With competition already tight at wide receiver and cornerback, it doesn’t seem likely that Dave Canales and Dan Morgan will make room for a third quarterback on the 53-man roster.
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