The Carolina Panthers are entering 2026 with one obvious truth hanging over everything: Bryce Young has to keep climbing.
Young is heading into a pivotal fourth NFL season, and Carolina is banking on the idea that his progress in 2025 wasn’t a one-year spike. If he keeps moving in the right direction, the Panthers not only have a real shot at locking in their quarterback for the long term, but they could also be in position to reach the playoffs for a second straight season.
That’s a big reason Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay says Carolina deserves more attention than it’s getting.
"Bryce Young's development transformed Carolina from a basement-dwelling rebuilding program into legitimate NFC South contender. His ascension from potential bust to possible franchise signal-caller has shifted the league's hierarchy, making the Panthers a team to watch this season," Kay explained.
The numbers back up the optimism. In 2025, Young completed 63.6% of his passes for 3,011 yards and 23 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, all career highs.
Still, the job isn’t finished. Young has plenty to tighten up if he wants to land the long-term extension he’s after, and the Panthers know the quarterback’s growth has to come with cleaner play around him, too.
That’s where the receiver group comes in. Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis noted that Carolina had the 13th-highest percentage of receiver error causing incompletions last season, a category that includes drops and running the wrong routes.
The Panthers were also tied for the 14th-most drops in the league, and Tetairoa McMillan accounted for eight of them.
The bigger issue is continuity. Carolina is bringing back much of the same pass-catching group from 2025, with Chris Brazzell the lone notable change - and he’s now expected to miss about eight weeks after suffering a torn LCL in practice on Wednesday.
For Carolina to make real noise, the formula is clear enough: McMillan, Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette all need to take a step forward, and Young has to keep doing the same.
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 🡒]