After the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, one thought quarterback Bryce Young is a bust, head coach Dave Canales isn’t going to make it through the season, and this could be worst team in league by a wide margin.
Yet, after a strong finish to the 2024 season across the board — how optimistic should Carolina Panthers fans be entering the 2025 campaign?
Through the first seven weeks of the 2024 NFL season, Bryce Young had 299 passing yards to with three interceptions and no touchdown passes. He was benched after a dreadful Week 2 performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, where he threw for 84 yards and a pick over his 26 attempts in a second consecutive blowout loss.
To put it kindly, it looked like Young’s time as the starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers was possibly coming to an end after just 18 starts with the organization who selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Yet, Young responded in a big way after getting his starting job back in Week 8. Over the final 10 games of the season, Young threw for 2,104 yards to go with 15 touchdown passes with just six interceptions.
Young’s strong finish to the year was capped off by arguably his best game as a pro with five total touchdowns and 275 total yards in a winning effort against the Atlanta Falcons.
To be honest, Young played like a No. 1 overall pick during that 10-game stretch. His strong finish should be very encouraging to Panthers’ fans about his potential long-term future with the team.
That was some of the good… Unfortunately, the bad still exists when objectively looking at the Carolina Panthers roster.
This team desperately needs to add a pass-rushing threat after trading away Brian Burns last offseason.
This receiver room is still a major work in progress with Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker projected to be the biggest contributors at the position entering the season.
In another stroke of bad luck, the Panthers may have to do without their second-round pick, RB Jonathon Brooks, for a majority of the 2025 NFL season after re-tearing his ACL during his limited action last year.
The defense still has some nice pieces with Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn to build around, and did add Tre’von Moehrig, Bobby Brown III, and Tershawn Wharton in free agency to tweak the roster for defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Ultimately, the Panthers could be a sneaky team to watch this season, but still feel a few pieces away from challenging the Bucs for the NFC South crown.
