Quarterback

Last off-season, the Panthers made an aggressive trade up from the 9th pick to the 1st pick in the draft to select quarterback Bryce Young. In the previous five seasons, the Panthers finished between 5 wins and 7 wins every season, while starting eight different quarterbacks, so they clearly needed a new direction at the position, but the Panthers paid a steep price to move up, giving away the 9th pick, the 61st pick, their 2024 1st round pick, their 2025 2nd round pick, and talented wide receiver DJ Moore.

Unfortunately, that decision backfired for the Panthers. Their offense missed DJ Moore in a big way and Bryce Young, with little help around him, struggled mightily as a rookie, completing just 59.8% of his passes for an average of 5.46 YPA, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions on an offense that ranked last in yards per play and 29th in first down rate. The Panthers’ defense wasn’t bad, but their offensive struggles still led to the team finishing with the worst record in the league at 2-15, which meant that the first round pick the Panthers surrendered to the Bears ended up being 1st overall, allowing the Bears to select Caleb Williams, a much better quarterback prospect than Young.

That left the Panthers in the position of being the worst team in the league and not having the #1 pick to fix the situation. Instead, the Panthers spent significantly in free agency trying to improve their roster around Young, to hopefully get much better play out of Young in year two and beyond. In terms of average annual value of their roster, the Panthers shot up from 28th in 2023 to 11th in 2024 after their off-season spending spree. That normally correlates heavily with winning percentage, but the Panthers overpaid a lot of their free agents in a desperate attempt to improve their roster.

That being said, Young and this offense should be better in year two, if only by default. Much of the problem with the Panthers’ offense a year ago was not his fault and, if only by default, they are better around him on offense this season. Young also has a good chance to be better himself. He’ll continue being backed up by veteran Andy Dalton, who has a career 87.6 QB rating in 163 starts in 13 seasons in the league, including a 88.4 QB rating across 58 pass attempts when Young missed time with injury in 2023, but he’s now going into his age 37 season and is nothing more than a solid backup at this stage of his career, so Young figures to keep his job all season even if he continues struggling. The Panthers still have a long way to go to be competitive for a playoff spot, even in the weaker NFC, but they probably won’t be as bad as a year ago. 

Grade: C+

Offensive Line

The Panthers spent big at the guard position this off-season, signing ex-Dolphin Robert Hunt to a 5-year, 100 million dollar deal and ex-Seahawk Damien Lewis to a 4-year, 53 million dollar deal. Help at the guard position was much needed, as the Panthers somehow had nine different players start at the two guard spots in 2023 and all of them finished with PFF grades below 60, with all but four of them finishing with grades below 50. Hunt should be a big upgrade, having finished above 60 in all four seasons in the league since going in the 2nd round in 2020 (55 starts), including PFF grades of 73.7 and 77.1 over the past two seasons respectively. He’s a little overpaid as the 3rd highest paid guard in the league in terms of average annual salary, but he should be a big boost for this offensive line. 

Damien Lewis is not nearly as good of a player and was a bigger overpay. He did have PFF grades of 70.2 and 71.8 in 2020 and 2022 respectively, but he was inconsistent with PFF grades of 57.1 and 59.6 in 2021 and 2023 respectively. The 2020 3rd round pick could still be a solid starter if he bounces back and it wouldn’t be hard for him to be an upgrade over what the Panthers had at the position a year ago, but the Panthers paid a lot more than they needed to for a player with as inconsistent of a resume as him.

The Panthers didn’t bring back center Bradley Bozeman as a free agent and had a decent 62.2 PFF grade in 17 starts last season, but they have Austin Corbett as a replacement. Corbett was one of the guards who struggled last season, with a 47.9 PFF grade in 257 snaps (4 starts), but he was coming off of a torn ACL that he suffered at the end of the 2022 season and he has a lot of bounce back potential in 2024 if he’s past his injury. From 2020-2022, Corbett made 50 starts and received PFF grades of 70.9, 68.8, and 69.1 and he’s only in his age 29 season. He has more experience at guard than center, but can play both positions and is needed more at center than guard with Hunt and Lewis being added this off-season.

Four other players who made starts at guard last season are still on the roster and will compete for depth options. Chandler Zavala was a 4th round pick in 2023, but he had a 26.2 PFF grade on 374 snaps as a rookie and has a long way to go to even be a decent backup. Nash Jensen was an undrafted rookie who had a 34.7 PFF grade on 302 snaps and he’s also unlikely to even be a decent backup this season. Cade Mays, a 2022 6th round pick, was better with a 58.3 PFF grade on a career high 434 snaps and could be a decent backup, while Brady Christensen probably has the most upside of the bunch. 

Christensen only played one game in 2023 due to injury, going down for the season with a season ending injury after week 1, but he was a 3rd round pick in 2021 and wasn’t horrible in his first two seasons in the league with PFF grades of 61.6 and 57.3 on snap counts of 480 and 965 respectively. He’s only ever played tackle and guard, but could probably play center too if needed, so he’s a solid, versatile reserve option. 

The Panthers also signed Yosh Nijman to a 2-year, 8 million dollar deal this off-season and he has grades of 60.5, 63.2, 63.1, and 61.7 over the past four seasons, while making 22 starts as the Packers’ swing tackle. Tackle is actually a position of strength for the Panthers, as starters Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton are both above average, so Nijman will remain a swing tackle, giving the Panthers above average depth at that position. He and Christensen will probably be the Panthers’ top reserves, giving them good depth upfront.

Taylor Moton was the Panthers’ best offensive lineman in 2023, with a 74.6 PFF grade in 17 starts. He’s been an above average starter for years, with PFF grades of 76.6, 76.2, 81.6, 77.5, and 69.3 in the five seasons prior to last season, while making all 99 possible starts in the past six seasons combined. He’s now in his age 30 season and could decline a little bit in 2024, but that’s not a guarantee and, even if he does decline, there’s a good chance he remains an above average starter, given that he’s starting from such a high base point. 

Ikem Ekwonu, meanwhile, was the 6th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has PFF grades of 65.3 and 67.4 in the past two seasons, and could have his best season yet in 2024, given his sky high upside and the fact that he’s still only in his age 24 season. The Panthers overpaid for Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, but adding those two at guard and likely getting a healthier year out of Austin Corbett should make this offensive line much better than a year ago, when it was a big weakness, particularly on the interior.

Grade: B+

Receiving Corps

The Panthers’ receiving corps was a big problem last season as well. Adam Thielen surpassed 1000 yards receiving with a 103/1014/4 slash line, but he wasn’t that efficient, averaging just 1.59 yards per route run and 7.40 yards per target. Thielen was a better receiver in his prime, averaging 1.98 yards per route run from 2016-2021 with a 88/1124/9 slash line per 17 games, but he’s on the decline and he’s now going into his age 34 season, so he could easily continue declining further.

The rest of this receiving corps was even worse in 2023, with DJ Chark totaling a 35/525/5 slash line with 1.08 yards per route run, Jonathan Mingo totaling a 43/418/0 slash line with 0.78 yards per route run, and no other players surpassing 250 yards receiving. Quarterback play was part of the problem, but the receiving corps also needed significant upgrades this off-season, especially when you consider Adam Thielen’s age. To try to improve this group, the Panthers traded back up into the first round for Xavier Legette and traded for veteran Diontae Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers, taking on the remaining 1 year and 10 million left on his contract.

Legette should have a big role right away, likely as a starter, but he enters the league pretty raw, albeit with a huge upside. Diontae Johnson, meanwhile, is a solid wide receiver, but not a true #1 receiver, averaging 1.72 yards per route run, 6.83 yards per target, and 873 yards per season in five seasons in the league, since being drafted in the 3rd round in 2019. They should both play in three wide receiver sets with Thielen, a trio that is unspectacular, but significantly better than what they had a year ago.

DJ Chark is no longer with the team, while Jonathan Mingo will now likely be the #4 receiver. He was a 2nd round pick in 2023 and has the upside to be significantly better in year two, so he’s not bad depth to have, but it’s possible he would continue struggling if forced back into a bigger role by injury and/or underperformance ahead of him on the depth chart. Terrance Marshall is also a recent 2nd round pick, but he has averaged just 0.94 yards per route run in three seasons in the league and couldn’t earn a significant role even in a thin receiving corps a year ago (334 snaps), so he’s nothing more than depth.

The Panthers gave playing time to four tight ends last season, Tommy Tremble (556 snaps), Hayden Hurst (318 snaps), Ian Thomas (218 snaps), and Stephen Sullivan (171 snaps), but they all struggled, with slash lines of 23/194/3, 18/184/1, 5/56/0, and 12/125/0 respectively on yards per route run averages of 0.78, 0.82, 0.73, and 0.98 respectively. All but Hurst remain and the only addition the Panthers made to this group this off-season was 4th round pick Ja’Tavion Sanders, so they should continue getting very little out of this group.

Tremble was a 3rd round pick in 2021, but has averaged just 0.71 yards per route run with 62 catches in 49 career games. Thomas is a 6-year veteran, but has finished below 60 on PFF in all six seasons, while averaging just 0.69 yards per route run. Stephen Sullivan is a 2020 7th round pick with 14 career catches. Unless the rookie Sanders surprises in a big way year one, I wouldn’t expect any of these players to contribute in any sort of significant way. This receiving corps should be better this year than a year ago, with the additions of Xavier Legette and Diontae Johnson, but this group still has their problems and, overall, is underwhelming.

Grade: C+

Running Backs

Last off-season, the Panthers gave a 4-year, 25.4 million dollar contract to former Eagles running back Miles Sanders, a contract that currently makes him the 12th highest paid running back in the league in average annual salary. Sanders, a 2nd round pick in 2019, averaged 5.02 YPC on 739 carries in four seasons with the Eagles, but struggled mightily after going from a great offensive line on a talented offense in Philadelphia to a poor offensive line on a talentless offense in Carolina, dropping to just 3.34 YPC as a result.

Sanders struggled so much that lost his starting job to expected backup Chuba Hubbard, who ended up out-carrying him 238 to 129 on the season. Hubbard only had a 3.79 YPC average and has just a 3.92 YPC average on 505 carries in three seasons in the league since being selected in the 4th round in the 2021 NFL draft, but he was still significantly more effective than Sanders was and his underwhelming YPC average can largely be attributed to the issues around him on this offense. 

Sanders remains on the roster because of a guaranteed 6.22 million dollar salary, but Hubbard should remain above him on the depth chart and Sanders will also likely be surpassed on the depth chart by Jonathon Brooks, who the Panthers selected in the 2nd round of this year’s draft. 

Running back was a relatively minor need for the Panthers this off-season, but Brooks likely would have been a first round pick if not for a torn ACL suffered late in his final collegiate season and clearly the Panthers are comfortable with his recovery from that injury. He’ll probably be eased into action early in the season, but I would expect him to at least split carries with Hubbard by season’s end and it’s entirely possible he ends up as the lead back and the team leader in carries, even as a rookie being eased into action after injury.

Hubbard was actually 4th on this team in receiving yardage last season, but that’s not as impressive as it sounds, as he had just a 39/233/0 slash line with a 0.79 yards per route run average. Overall, his yards per route run average in his career is 0.99, making him a better pass catching option than Sanders, who has averaged just 0.85, including a 0.73 yards per route in 2023, when he finished with a 27/154/0 slash line. Hubbard will likely continue playing more passing down snaps than Sanders, but the rookie Brooks has the most passing down upside of any of their backs, after catching 25 passes for 286 yards in just 11 games in his final collegiate season. The Panthers have some options in the backfield, but this will likely remain an underwhelming group unless they get a big rookie year out of Jonathon Brooks, who is coming off a significant injury.

Grade: B

Edge Defenders

The Panthers spent a lot of money trying to build up their offensive supporting cast this off-season, but they traded away one of their best defensive player Brian Burns, receiving a second round pick for the talented edge defender, who the Giants gave a 5-year, 141 million dollar extension upon acquiring him, making him the third highest paid edge defender in the league in terms of average annual salary. 

The trade made some sense, as the Panthers are not close to competing even with Burns and needed to replenish draft capital after their trade up with the Bears for Bryce Young last off-season, but Burns is only going into his age 26 season and was the kind of player the Panthers should have built around, rather than using the money they saved by not paying him to overpay other team’s free agents. Burns finished the 2023 season with an overall 73.8 PFF grade and 8 sacks, 11 hits, and a 10.6% pressure rate and totaled 46 sacks, 56 hits, and a 11.8% pressure rate in 80 games in five seasons with the Panthers, who selected him in the first round in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Panthers also did not bring back Yetur Gross-Matos, who had a decent 65.4 PFF grade across 465 snaps as the other starting edge defender last season, nor did they bring back Justin Houston or Marquis Haynes, who both were decent in smaller roles, with PFF grades of 61.2 and 71.9 respectively on snap counts of 177 and 142 respectively. In what is a completely revamped position group, the Panthers added free agents Jadeveon Clowney, DJ Wonnum, and K’Lavon Chaisson on deals worth 20 million over 2 years, 12.5 million over 2 years, and 2.5 million over 1 year respectively. 

Clowney is the best of the bunch, playing the run well and getting to the quarterback at an impressive rate, exceeding 60 on PFF in overall grade in every season except his rookie season in 2024 and exceeding 70 in all but one of the past nine seasons, including a 85.7 PFF grade in 653 snaps last season. In total, he has 52.5 sacks, 80 hits, and a 11.3% pressure rate in 122 games over those past nine seasons, including 9.5 sacks, 10 hits, and a 14.7% pressure rate in 2023. 

However, Clowney is now going into his age 31 season and he’s always had durability problems, missing 37 games in 10 seasons in the league, while making it through the season without missing time just twice. He could start to decline this season and, even if he doesn’t, he’ll likely miss some time with injury and he also doesn’t really fit the rebuilding Panthers’ timeline to compete, so he was a bit of an odd signing, even if his presence does make the team better.

Wonnum and Chaisson, meanwhile, are both underwhelming players. Wonnum has developed into a decent run stopper, but he’s never been much of a pass rusher, with 23 sacks, 23 hits, and a 8.1% pressure rate in 62 games in four seasons in the league since being drafted in the 4th round in 2020, while finishing below 60 in pass rush grade on PFF in all four of those seasons. Chaisson, meanwhile, has finished below 60 overall on PFF in all four seasons in the league, while playing just 336 snaps per season. He is only still in the league because he was a first round pick in 2020 and is still only in his age 25 season. He might still have significant untapped upside and could theoretically take a step forward with his new team, but time is running out for him to develop into even a capable rotational player.

The Panthers’ top returning edge defenders from a year ago are DJ Johnson and Amare Barno, who played just 231 snaps and 189 snaps respectively. Johnson struggled in limited action last season, but he was a 3rd round pick in 2023 and could easily take a step forward in his second season in the league. I would expect him to see an expanded role in a revamped position group in 2024. Barno, meanwhile, was a 2022 6th round pick and has only played 240 nondescript snaps in two seasons in the league. He’ll likely be on the outside looking in for a role in 2024, barring injuries ahead of him on the depth chart, and he’s not a lock for the final roster. This is an underwhelming group outside of the veteran Jadeveon Clowney, whose age and injury history are both significant concerns.

Grade: B-

Interior Defenders

The Panthers did keep one talented defensive lineman, locking up 2020 1st round pick Derrick Brown on a 4-year, 96 million dollar extension ahead of what would have been the final year of his rookie deal. Brown is now the 4th highest paid interior defender in the league in terms of average annual salary and he only has 8 sacks in 66 career games, but he has added 37 hits and a 7.5% pressure rate, while excelling against the run, particularly over the past two seasons, when he has had overall PFF grades of 84.4 and 90.1 on snap counts of 870 and 938 respectively. Still only in his age 26 season, he should continue being one of the better interior defenders in the league for years to come and he could possibly even have further untapped upside.

The rest of the Panthers’ interior defender options are all also better against the run than they are as pass rushers, so this group doesn’t complement each other well. Shy Tuttle was second at the position in snaps played in 2023 with 547 and he has just a 3.5% pressure rate in his career, which fell to just 0.9% last season. He’s also only played 452 snaps per season in five seasons in the league, with a max of 557. The 2019 undrafted free agent is a solid run stuffer, but nothing more.

DeShawn Williams was a situational pass rusher for the Panthers last season and, while he only had a 7.5% pressure rate, he’ll still be missed in that aspect because the Panthers don’t have another situational pass rush option. Instead, Williams was replaced by A’Shawn Robinson, who has finished above 60 in run defense grade on PFF in six of seven seasons in the league, but only has a 5.2% pressure rate in his career, including 3.6% last season with the Giants. Signing him to a 3-year, 22.5 million dollar deal this off-season, the Panthers probably overpaid for a mostly redundant run stuffer.

Deep reserves Nick Thurman and LaBryan Ray are also better against the run than they are as pass rushers, but they aren’t particularly good run defenders either. Thurman, a 2018 undrafted free agent, has only played 505 snaps in his career, 368 of which came last season. He had a solid 65.4 PFF grade against the run last season, but had just a 2.3% pressure rate, and has a pressure rate of just 3.3% in his career. Ray, meanwhile, is a 2022 undrafted free agent who played the first 356 snaps of his career last season, finishing with a 54.6 PFF grade and a 2.2% pressure rate. 

Both Thurman and/or Ray will probably have to play at least somewhat of a role again in 2024, with the Panthers only other deep reserve option being 6th round rookie Jaden Crumedy, who would also probably struggle. Derrick Brown is one of the best interior defenders in the league and Shy Tuttle and A’Shawn Robinson are good run defenders, but the Panthers lack depth in this position group, particularly when it comes to interior pass rushers.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Another key defensive player the Panthers didn’t bring back this off-season is linebacker Frankie Luvu. Luvu had a 80.0 PFF grade across 989 snaps in 2023, but the Panthers opted not to try to match or exceed the 3-year, 31 million dollar deal he signed with the Commanders this off-season and instead signed Josey Jewell from the Broncos on a 3-year, 18.75 million dollar deal. Jewell is a solid player who has PFF grades of 68.1, 71.7, 67.2 on an average of 877 snaps per season in his last three healthy seasons, but he’ll still probably be a downgrade from Luvu.

Fortunately, the Panthers do get Shaq Thompson back, after his 2023 season was ended by injury in week 2. Prior to last season, Thompson had missed just 13 games in 8 seasons in the league and finished above 60 on PFF in all but one of those eight seasons, with four seasons above 70, including PFF grades of 72.7 and 72.3 on snap counts of 796 and 1,089 in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Thompson is now in his age 30 season and coming off of a serious injury, so he could decline a little bit, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him remain a solid every down player.

The Panthers also added Trevin Wallace in the third round of the draft to give themselves additional linebacker depth. They downgraded by going from Frankie Luvu to Josey Jewell, but it wouldn’t be hard for Thompson and Wallace to be better than Deion Jones and Kamu Grugier-Hill were as their top linebackers behind Luvu last season, when they had PFF grades of 66.3 and 48.6 respectively. This group doesn’t have the top level talent in Luvu that they had a year ago, but they should make up for that somewhat by being a deeper group.

Grade: B

Cornerback

Along with getting Shaq Thompson back from injury, the Panthers could also get a healthier season out of top cornerback Jaycee Horn, who had an impressive 84.1 PFF grade in 2023, but was limited to just 275 snaps in 6 games by injury. A first round pick in 2021, Horn has always had a huge upside and he had impressive grades of 67.8 and 71.4 in his first two seasons in the league as well, but injuries have consistently plagued him, limiting him to 142 snaps in 3 games as a rookie and 812 snaps in 13 games in his second season in the league in 2022, meaning he’s played in just 22 of a possible 51 games in three seasons in the league. 

Horn is still only going into his age 24 season and the Panthers picked up his 5th year option for 2025 because of the upside he’s shown when healthy, but his impressive play has come in a pretty limited sample size thus far in his career and there’s a good chance he misses more time with injury in 2024 and beyond. He has a high ceiling and could put it all together in his 4th season in the league in 2024 if he can finally stay healthy, but he comes with a low floor as well.

The Panthers will need Horn to stay healthy because the rest of this position group is pretty thin. The Panthers didn’t bring back Donte Jackson (902 snaps) and CJ Henderson (407 snaps), who played significant roles a year ago. Henderson had just a 45.4 PFF grade, but Jackson was decent with a 64.3 PFF grade and the Panthers didn’t do much to replace them, only signing ex-Bill Dane Jackson to a 2-year, 8 million dollar deal in free agency. Jackson, a 2020 7th round pick, only started 28 of the 52 games he played in four seasons in Buffalo and had mostly mediocre grades from PFF, finishing in the 50s or 60s in all four seasons, but the Panthers don’t have a choice but to make him an every down starter.

The Panthers do bring back veteran Troy Hill, who had a decent 61.3 PFF grade on 493 snaps in 2023, and he’ll probably have to be their 3rd cornerback by default, but he’s now going into his age 33 season and has started just 58 of the 113 games he’s played in nine seasons in the league, while posting middling PFF grades in the 60s in the past three seasons, on snap counts of 533, 703, and 493 respectively, a noticeable drop off from his prime. Given his age, he could decline further in 2024 and be a liability, especially in an expanded role. 

Behind the top-3 of Horn, Jackson, and Hill, the Panthers’ best options are 5th round rookie Chau Smith-Wade, who would likely struggle in a significant rookie year role, 2023 undrafted free agent D’Shawn Jamison, who struggled with a 47.2 PFF grade on 107 snaps as a rookie, and Dicaprio Bootle, a 2021 undrafted free agent who has played just 221 nondescript snaps in three seasons in the league. Depth is a big issue for the Panthers at cornerback, one that will be an even bigger issue if Horn suffers another significant injury. Horn’s upside if he stays healthy and puts it all together is the only positive thing this cornerback group has going for it.

The Panthers could try to mask some of their lack of depth at cornerback by using three safeties together frequently in sub packages, but their safety depth is only better than their cornerback depth by default. The starting duo of Jordan Fuller and Xavier Woods is at least solid though, with Fuller coming over from the Rams this off-season on a 1-year, 3.25 million dollar deal and Woods in the final year of a 3-year, 15 million dollar deal that he signed as a free agent two off-seasons ago. 

Fuller, a 2020 6th round pick, received PFF grades of 63.6, 74.3, and 66.7 in 2020, 2021, and 2023 respectively, while starting all 45 games he played in those three seasons, with a lost season due to injury in 2022 in between. Still only in his age 26 season, I would expect him to continue being a solid starter and he has a good chance to be an upgrade, even if only slightly, on the player he is replacing, Vonn Bell, who had a 63.9 PFF grade across 777 snaps in 2023.

Woods, meanwhile, is coming off of a career best 80.3 PFF grade in 14 starts (3 games missed due to injury). He’s a one-year wonder in terms of playing at that level, but he’s not a complete one-year wonder, receiving PFF grades above 60 in all seven seasons in the league (94 starts in 106 games), including four seasons above 70. Still in his late prime in his age 29 season, I wouldn’t expect Woods to repeat his career best 2023 campaign, but he should remain at least a solid starter. Depth is the issue at the safety position. The Panthers signed veteran Nick Scott in free agency and he’s started 27 of the 50 games he’s played in the past three seasons, but he’s also finished below 60 on PFF in all three of those seasons, with grades of 47.5, 54.2, and 44.0 respectively. 

Even with his experience, Scott won’t be guaranteed the top backup spot and will have to compete with 2023 5th round pick Jammie Robinson, who played 64 nondescript snaps as a rookie, and Sam Franklin, who has been a backup safety for the Panthers for the past four seasons, with mostly mediocre play across 781 snaps. Scott is probably the favorite for the #3 safety job and all three of their backup options would probably struggle if forced into significant action. The Panthers have a solid safety duo and a high upside #1 cornerback Jaycee Horn, but Horn comes with a lot of downside as well and the Panthers’ depth at both cornerback and safety is very suspect.

Grade: B

Conclusion

On offense, the Panthers improved their supporting cast and should get better play out of quarterback Bryce Young. On defense, they lost a pair of key players in Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu, but they replaced them with Jadeveon Clowney and Josey Jewell, who aren’t huge downgrades, and they could get healthier years out of both Jaycee Horn and Shaq Thompson, who are key contributors when healthy. However, this team was the worst in the league by a pretty wide margin a year ago and needed to improve significantly to even be respectable. They’ll be more competitive than a year ago, but it’s hard to see this team qualifying for the post-season, even in the weaker NFC. Like with every team, I’ll have a final prediction for the Panthers after I finish all of my previews.

Prediction: XX-XX, XX in NFC South