Smolar Football season is back, well…kind of. The Carolina Panthers welcomed rookies to training camp on Friday and will have the entire team in Charlotte on Wednesday with all 32 NFL clubs starting training camp by then if they haven’t already. This gives teams a couple of weeks to work on their offense, defense and special teams and build team chemistry ahead of preseason games and ultimately their season openers in a little over a month. For fans, it gives them reported on practices to pay attention to as they look forward to September.
For Carolina, this season will be an important one for the future of the franchise, even if they have the longest odds to win Super Bowl LIX in most sportsbooks. There are plenty of storylines to keep an eye on this week and throughout the preseason as the team continuously prepares for their season opener on Sept. 8 in New Orleans.
How does Bryce Young look in year two after disastrous rookie campaign?
It’s no secret that Young significantly underperformed with high expectations placed on his shoulders after Carolina gave up quite a bit to the Chicago Bears so they could take him first overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. The thought seemed to be that Young was stepping into a solid situation with Frank Reich as head coach and a decent set of weapons led by Miles Sanders, Hayden Hurst and Adam Thielen among others. While that turned out to be far from the truth, Young still needs to take some of the blame for being pretty bad as a rookie. The Panthers did quite a bit of work this offseason to improve the supporting cast and ensure that doesn’t happen again. They first hired the always positive Dave Canales, who helped oversee the career resurgences of Geno Smith in Seattle and Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay. They also traded for Diontae Johnson from the Steelers, traded up in the draft to take Xavier Legette, re-made the offensive line and supplied the backfield with several capable running backs with plans to run the ball quite a bit. There is no question that Young is in a far better position to succeed this season than last. If he doesn’t at least show some improvement, questions will arise about his future in Carolina faster than you think.
Who steps into top pass rusher role?
Carolina’s defense was pretty bad last year, ranking 29th in points allowed at 24.5 per game and only posted 27 sacks as a unit. Having to trade Brian Burns to the New York Giants for salary cap relief definitely hurts. He had 46 sacks over his five seasons with the team, including eight last year. With the team pivoting back to a 3-4 defensive scheme, more could be asked of the linebacking unit from a pass rushing perspective. Jadeveon Clowney was also added from the Baltimore Ravens and had 9.5 sacks a season ago, seemingly giving them a good veteran option to lean on. Only time will tell how the defense finds a pass rushing threat without Burns.
Who takes over second cornerback spot?
Outside of pass rusher, the biggest question on defense is at No.2 cornerback. Jaycee Horn is clearly locked into the top position on the depth chart but who starts across from him is still up in the air. As of now it would appear the competition is between Dane Jackson and Troy Hill, two veterans who have plenty of starting experience in the league but are by no means stars. Jackson has history with the front office from his time with the Buffalo Bills which would seem to give him the edge while Hill could possibly be built for the nickel corner position. Still, both of them will have to earn their spots and could easily be passed by anybody below them on the depth chart if they struggle in camp. I wouldn’t rule out a reunion with Stephon Gilmore either. Regardless, the cornerback position is one to watch.
How does new o-line and set of weapons look?
This one goes hand in hand with the first question. Young now seems to have three decent options at wide receiver to throw the ball to between Thielen, Johnson and Legette. The offensive line should also give Young much better protection after he took 62 sacks as a rookie. Between Chuba Hubbard, Sanders and rookie Jonathon Brooks, Canales should have the personnel necessary to run the ball as he pleases. On paper Young has no excuse to play as poorly as last season. Of course, games aren’t played on paper and if the new supporting cast doesn’t do their jobs, Young will have a difficult time making any real improvements.
The bottom line and best/worst case scenarios.
The Panthers in all likelihood are still a few years away from being a real contender in the NFC. Immediately going from a 2-15 season to a real threat is easier said than done. That being said they are unquestionably in a better spot as a franchise than they were a season ago and should be more competitive in 2024. With one of the league’s weakest schedules and being in the NFC South, Carolina could hover around .500 and remain in the playoff race late in the season if Young shows signs of being a franchise quarterback and the defense makes real strides as a unit. On the flip side, if Young doesn’t improve at all and the defense fails to find answers at pass rush and in the secondary, it could be another long season for the Panthers with not many more wins than the two they posted in 2023. When you only win two games it’s hard not to be any better the following season. Only time will tell how much progress has been made.
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