Preseason game No. 3 gave the Panthers a cleaner look at quarterback, and Carolina walked out of Jacksonville with a 34-17 win that showed more than just a couple of ground scores. The quarterback room looked sharp across the board, with Bryce Young, Kenny Pickett and Kyle Trask all finding ways to contribute without any disastrous turnovers.
Young got the lightest workload of the three, but he made it count. In six pass attempts, he completed five for 49 yards and helped steady a first-team offense that opened slowly because the protection around him wasn’t great. He stayed composed when pressure showed up, then answered on the next series by showing off a little bit of everything - patience in the pocket before finding Tetairoa McMillan, a scramble away from defenders, and a short sideline completion.
He also connected with both Coker and McMillan, an encouraging sign as that chemistry continues to build heading into the 2026 season. McMillan came close to turning one of those short throws into a touchdown, but he was stopped at the one-yard line.
Young’s decision-making stayed clean, and he helped drive Carolina down the field for a Jonathon Brooks 1-yard rushing touchdown. It’s worth noting that Young and the first team offense were working against the Jaguars’ second-team defense, but he handled the assignment the way he was supposed to.
Pickett saw the most action of any Panthers quarterback and had the most complete stat line. He finished 15 of 25 for 137 yards and a touchdown strike to Roc Taylor, putting together an 88.2 passer rating as the night went on.
Early in the second quarter, his night had a few bumps, but he settled in and guided Carolina into multiple scoring drives. The completion percentage sat at 60%, which isn’t eye-popping, but he was decisive and made the plays that mattered.
His best work came with John Metchie III, who was the top receiving threat on the night. The two hooked up for multiple chunk gains, and Metchie finished with six catches for 77 yards to lead the Panthers.
Trask, the newest quarterback on the roster after undrafted free agent Haynes King hurt his hamstring, didn’t have much to do in the passing game, but he handled his opportunities well. He completed all four of his throws for 52 yards and threw a touchdown to Casey Washington. One of his cleaner moments came on a rollout to the right, when he completed a pass on the move to Washington for a first down.
There wasn’t much for Trask to be judged on, but he avoided mistakes and came away with a solid night.
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 🡒]
Bryce Young Enters A Make-Or-Break Year With Too Much Unsettled
The Panthers have spent the offseason trying to give Bryce Young more help, but the picture around him still looks unsettled heading into a crucial stretch. The receiving group, led by Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, is still viewed as a middle-to-lower tier unit, and the run game has not provided the kind of burst Carolina needs to make life easier on its quarterback.
What makes the situation even more difficult is the state of the offensive line, which was once one of the teams real strengths. Injuries and personnel changes have interrupted that stability, with Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton among the key names sidelined, leaving Young to navigate a setup that still feels very much in flux. [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 🡒]