One week into Carolina Panthers training camp, the picture is already starting to sharpen. Some names are flashing.
Others are getting knocked off course. And as always in camp, the difference between momentum and misery can be a single rep, a single cut, or a single trip to the cart.
Among the biggest early winners is the Panthers’ third-round draft pick, Brazzell. He’s turned heads with local media and the Carolina staff thanks to his downfield speed and explosiveness at receiver. Dave Canales has already been thinking out loud about how to deploy him, and the fit is obvious enough: Brazzell as the outside threat who can create room for Tetairoa McMillan to work in the slot.
But Brazzell’s camp has taken a hit, too. On Wednesday, he was injured and carted off, putting a damper on what had been a strong start. He’s been one of the standouts so far, so the hope is that he’s back soon.
The tight end room, meanwhile, is in rough shape. It may be the least talented group on the roster, and things got worse when Mitchell Evans was carted off Tuesday with a left leg injury.
Evans had the most upside in that room, but his status now looks bleak. At this point, the Panthers could use another veteran body, with Jonnu Smith or Darren Waller mentioned as possibilities.
On the positive side, Jonathan Brooks is drawing nothing but encouraging reports. For a player whose NFL story has been defined by getting healthy, the next challenge is staying that way, and Panthers fans know that’s easier said than done.
Still, the early buzz is real: his burst is showing up again, along with the quickness and shiftiness people remembered. Considering he’s already dealt with two ACL tears, that kind of camp feedback is hard not to feel good about.
If it keeps going this way, Brooks could be looking at heavy usage in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.
Not every injury note has been bad news, though. Jaycee Horn is back on the field after dealing with a minor toe laceration that kept him out of the first four days of camp. Carolina needs him to keep playing at the level he showed last season if this defense is going to keep climbing.
The toughest blow may have been Nic Scourton. Carolina’s second-year edge rusher was coming off a promising 2025 season, when he posted 5 sacks, but he was carted off on day 1 of camp and tore his ACL. Taylor Moton is also out, adding another hit to the early injury picture.
One week in, the Panthers have already seen both sides of camp life: the rise of young talent and the harsh reality of bodies breaking down.
In Other News...
Panthers Just Made A Telling Move In Their Thin Receiver Room
Carolina added another body to a receiver group that has been thinned out in training camp, signing Casey Washington and bringing the former Falcons wideout onto the 90-man roster. Washington arrives after two seasons in Atlanta, where he got into 15 games and caught seven passes for 108 yards, and now gets a fresh chance in a room that needs players who can stay on the field and keep reps moving.
The move came with a corresponding roster shuffle as Dan Chisena was placed on injured reserve, underscoring how quickly the depth chart can change this time of year. Washington also lands in a familiar corner of the NFC South after his release earlier this offseason, and for the Panthers the immediate question is less about pedigree than whether he can carve out a role before the roster gets even tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Had Every Reason To Fear This Mitchell Evans Update
Training camp has already delivered one brutal reminder of how quickly a roster can change, with EDGE Nic Scourton going down with a torn ACL and getting carted off the field. So when Mitchell Evans was helped off after his own injury, it was easy to understand why Panthers fans braced for another worst-case update, especially with the tight end group still trying to establish itself as a real strength.
Instead, Carolina got a far better outcome than the initial scare suggested, and that matters because Evans has become a quietly important piece of the offense. Even without eye-popping production last season, his combination of size, blocking and dependable hands gives the Panthers a different kind of value at a position that has been thin for years, which is why any absence there feels bigger than the box score would indicate. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Face A Bigger Question About Bryce Youngs Next Step
Bryce Youngs 2025 season gave the Panthers something they had been searching for: a real step forward at quarterback. He completed 63.6% of his passes for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and the overall arc of his year suggested a player settling in rather than merely surviving. Still, the tape and the numbers together pointed to a broader issue around him, because too many throws that should have been routine completions never got finished.
The receiving group did its part in creating that problem, with Tetairoa McMillan tied to eight drops as Carolina worked through a season full of missed chances and injury-related shuffling. For a team trying to build on Youngs progress, the next step is not just about the quarterback continuing to grow. It is about whether the Panthers can clean up the support around him well enough to turn those gains into something more durable next season. [Read more 🡒]