Last year, the Panthers ranked 25th in interception rate, 26th on 3rd downs, 30th in pass yards per game and 31st in average time of possession. They showed well in goal-to-go situations (6th), red zone (9th) and rush yards per play (10th). The success in the running game and inside the opposing 20, helped them finish 23rd in points per game, instead of at the bottom.
At receiver in 2024, Adam Thielen missed 7 straight games and they traded away Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Mingo during the season. At running back, Miles Sanders missed 6 straight games and 2nd-round rookie, Jonathon Brooks, managed 3 games of action. Also, Tommy Tremble, Jalen Coker and Chuba Hubbard all missed multiple games.
QB: Bryce Young
Young’s 2024 looked as bad as his rookie season to start. In his first 11 games, he completed 60% of his passes for an average of 163 yards per game with 8 TDs / 9 INTs while rushing 31 times for 149 yards (4.8) and 3 TDS.
However, he turned it on in his last 3 games as he completed 64% of his passes for 204 yards per game with 7 TDs / 0 INTs, while rushing 12 times for 100 yards (8.3) and 3 TDs. What’s more, 5 of his 6 rushing TDs came in his last 6 games.
RB: Chuba Hubbard
On the year Hubbard put up great stats with almost 1,200 rushing yards on 4.8 ypc and 10 TDs. He chipped in 43 receptions, a year after putting up a career-high of 39 receptions. Despite the volume, he hasn’t flourished in the receiving role as his yards per reception dropped from 6.0 in 2023 to 4.0 in 2024.
A year after averaging 3.8 yards per carry, the 4.8 was great to see but faded as the season went on. In his first 6 games of 2024 he averaged 5.6 ypc. Over the next 9 games, his average dropped to 4.3. During that 9-game span, he had 6 games of averaging 3.7 ypc or less.
RB: Rico Dowdle
Dowdle had his breakout season with the Cowboys last year as he rushed for over 1,000 yards on 4.6 ypc with 2 TDs. He also caught 39 passes for 249 yards (6.4 ypr) with 3 additional TDs. The 3 receiving TDs for Dowdle in 2024 is one more than Hubbard has through his 4 year career.
Dowdle got better as the season went on in his first year as a starter. He was lightly used in the first 9 games with 93 carries for 402 yards (4.3) and 0 TDs. Over his last 7 games, they ramped him up and he responded with 142 carries for 677 yards (4.8) and 2 TDs.
RB: Trevor Etienne
Etienne is not explosive, powerful, or elusive. He thrives on combining his vision with a jump cut, an ability to get skinny and taking appropriate angles upfield and away from tacklers. He’ll find a role in Carolina where he can complement Hubbard and Dowdle, mostly as a 3rd down back that would be a receiving option and hold up to the blitz.
WR: Tetairoa McMillan
At 6’4 / 219 pounds, McMillan is a massive target who trusts his hands. His ability to run into his catches, stopping on a dime or setting up moves following the reception, is unique for his size. He’s proactive in working back to the quarterback and into space to give his QB a target in the biggest window possible and his after-catch work will make him a QB’s best friend.
WR: Xavier Legette
Last year was a lot for Legette to work through with the changing QBs, coming-and-going of receiver teammates via trade or injuries and being asked to take on more, earlier due to all the changing variables around him. Now, with McMillan in the fold, a year of experience and Young’s development, Legette looks to be ready to take his game to the next level.
WR: Adam Thielen
After a slow start in the first 3 games, Thielen missed the next 7 games. Over the last 7 games he got back to his old self by putting up 40 / 506 / 4 with an 80% catch rate while averaging 12.7 ypr. Thielen is now in a perfect role at this stage of his career with 2 young, talented receivers around him in McMillan and Legette.
TE: Ja’Tavion Sanders
Due to all of the coming and goings in the lineup around him, along with Tommy Tremble missing games at tight end, Sanders got a 6 game stretch between 10/14-11/24 to show what he could add to the lineup. In those games he was targeted 24 times for 21 / 261 / 1. He averaged 12.4 ypr on a 87.5% catch rate.
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Tetairoa McMillan
McMillan’s style is a perfect fit for what Young needs to take his game to the next level. Adding McMillan also allows last year’s rookie, Legette and veteran receiver Thielen to fall back into better fits in the offense. McMillan will lead the team in targets with 120+ this year, after no one in the offense reached 85, and only 1 player had more than 62 in 2024.
McMillan will finish his rookie season with 80 / 900 / 6.
BUST: Chuba Hubbard
Over the last 2 seasons, Hubbard has put up 238+ carries each year while averaging 40 receptions a year. Last year he finished with a career-high 10 TDs. Thanks to the additions to the backfield of Dowdle and Etienne, he’ll fail to hit the 200 carry mark and his TDs and receptions will be cut in half. He’ll finish with 800 rush yards, 5 TDs and 20 receptions.
SLEEPER: Trevor Etienne
Etienne will mostly see action on 3rd downs. He’ll be an upgrade in the passing game out of the backfield and can be trusted to take on the pass rush. It’ll allow Hubbard and Dowdle to remain fresh in a rotation as 2-down backs while they won’t have to take the punishment of blitz pickup on 3rd down. Etienne can also be used in unison on downs with either Hubbard or Dowdle as a receiving option that motions out of the backfield. He’ll top 50 receptions as a rookie.
BOLD PREDICTION: Bryce Young
Young showed growth towards the end of last season, going 2-1 with 7 TDs / 0 INTs over the team’s last 3 games. He also recorded 3 of his 4 wins in 4 different overtime games over the 2nd half of the season.
Now, he has an offense that’s built for him to do some things as he heads into a pivotal 3rd year as a pro. Young will throw for over 3,000 yards, rush for 300 yards and finish with 30 total TDs…and win the NFC South with a 9-8 record.
