The ESSENTIAL Football Show 2025 Cap Space: $10.2 million
2026 Cap Space: $38.3 million
2027 Cap Space: $140.6 million
2026 Draft Picks: Own Picks, Rounds 1-7
Where it all goes from here remains to be seen, but if nothing else, I’m glad we finally got to see the Bryce Young from the scouting reports play in the NFL.
It didn’t look that way after a brutal stretch to start 2024, which culminated in Young’s benching, but the player who came back was willing to cut it loose, and make the type of anticipatory, pinpoint throws that highlighted his scouting report coming out.
The Panthers didn’t rest on that progress, using the 8th overall pick to draft receiver Tetairoa McMillan out of Arizona. At 6’4, McMillan brings a size element that was previously lacking in this room, which, outside of veteran Adam Thielen, is stocked with first or second-year players who could presumably grow with Bryce Young.
There are only so many resources to go around, so Carolina was unable to meaningfully upgrade a unit that was one of the NFL’s worst in 2024, but if Young and the offense can roll out of 2025 with momentum, there’s a chance the Panthers can get the defense geared up for a 2026 run during the fourth year of Young’s rookie contract.
After that, things will get complicated.
Quarterback
Starter: Bryce Young
Backups: Andy Dalton, Jack Plummer
Running Back
Starters: Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle
Backups: Trevor Etienne (4th Rd), Raheem Blackshear, Jonathon Brooks (IR)
Wide Receiver
Starters: Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Tetairoa McMillan (1st Rd)
Backups: Jalen Coker, David Moore, Jimmy Horn Jr. (6th Rd), Hunter Renfrow
Tight End
Starters: Tommy Tremble, Ja’Tavion Sanders
Backups: Mitchell Evans (5th Rd)
Offensive Line
Starters: Ikem Ekwonu, Damien Lewis, Austin Corbett, Robert Hunt, Taylor Moton
Backups: Brady Christensen, Cade Mays, Chandler Zavala, Yosh Nijman
Offense Breakdown
The offense around Bryce Young should be pretty darn good in 2025.
The investments ahead of 2024 paid off, as the offensive line was much improved last season, with free-agent additions Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt maintaining their standard at guard, and left tackle Ikem Ekwonu showing enough improvement in pass protection for the Panthers to pick up his fifth-year option. They even found some depth in Cade Mays, who was serviceable filling in when starting center Austin Corbett was injured.
2025 could be the year that the skill positions take the next step; Xavier Legette had an up and down rookie season that saw him struggle through injuries down the stretch, but there’s no question he can run, while his fellow rookie, Jalen Coker, showcased a strong blend of speed, quickness, and the ability to compete through contact that should allow him to contribute as a complementary receiver for a long time in the NFL (whatever that means). If 6th-round pick Jimmy Horn Jr. turns out, it only adds to the depth of this young receiving room.
The Panthers were solid as far as starting running backs go after Chuba Hubbard’s standout 2024 season, but they needed depth after Jonathon Brooks suffered a second torn ACL in as many years, and they got it in veteran Rico Dowdle and 4th round pick Trevor Etienne. Dowdle was a great value signing as a solid, proven NFL back with limited tread on the tire, while Etienne is expected to add some juice to the mix. The tight end room is just ok, with Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders leading the way, but overall, this has the potential to be an above-average group of weapons.
The question is whether Young can be an above-average quarterback. Young showed significant improvement in his return to the field, making quick decisions with the ball and using his legs to great effect, but there are still gaps on film. While he will attack the intermediate and deep areas of the field in rhythm, Young’s underwhelming arm strength makes it difficult for him to work those areas on longer-developing plays, or when he looks to break the pocket and extend a play.
As to the running, it hasn’t happened yet, but you get the sense Young is eventually going to get ROCKED by someone in space. Unlike, say, Kyler Murray, who is an absolutely electric athlete with the ball in his hands, Young’s ability to be as effective as he is running defies the eyes. Young clearly has a knack for knowing when to move, and where to run, but he’s not an explosive runner, and you have to think at some point, he’s going to get caught in a bad position.
Maybe I’m wrong there and Young will take his game to even greater heights in 2025, proving those late-season numbers were no aberration. My bet is that Young settles in somewhere between the 16th and 24th best quarterback in the NFL, a solid starter who is entertaining to watch on a week-to-week basis, but who is going to have a heck of a time getting his team to the top of the mountain with some of the superhero quarterbacks we have playing in the NFL today.
Defensive Tackle
Starters: Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown, Tershawn Wharton
Backups: A’Shawn Robinson, Shy Tuttle, LaBryan Ray
Edge
Starters: D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones
Backups: Nic Scourton (2nd Rd), Princely Unmanmielen (3rd Rd)
Linebackers
Starters: Josey Jewell, Trevin Wallace
Backups: Christian Rozeboom, Claudin Cherelus
Safety
Starters: Tre’von Moehrig, Demani Richardson
Backups: Lathan Ransom (4th Rd), Nick Scott
Slot
Starter: Chau Smith-Wade
Backups: MJ Devonshire
Outside CB
Starters: Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson
Backups: Shemar Bartholomew, Akayleb Evans
Defense Breakdown
As far as getting to the Super Bowl goes, the defense doesn’t look ready to help much. The Panthers added four defenders between Rounds 2 and 5, and there isn’t much stopping from any of those players from emerging as contributors, but counting on a handful of rookies and a free-agent class with one headliner (safety Tre’von Moehrig) and several rotational defensive linemen to flip the script seems overly optimistic.
If things are going to work out in Carolina, it needs to start with their two-highly paid stars, defensive tackle Derrick Brown and cornerback Jaycee Horn, and for that to happen, both players need to be healthy. (Brown is coming off a season-ending knee injury, while Horn has not completed a full season and has missed more than half the season in two of his four years).
The Panthers looked to have a proven contributor in place up front in veteran edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, but they opted to part ways with him weeks after the NFL Draft, which leaves D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones to supply the juice off the edge until Nic Scourton and Pricely Unmanmielen, their second and third-round picks, are ready to take over.
Hopefully, that doesn’t take long, because the bar that Wonnum and Jones set wasn’t particularly high when the two were teammates in Minnesota, and it’s probably not going to get a lot higher now. The situation makes it that much more frustrating that the Panthers were unable to land defensive tackle Milton Williams in free agency; Tershawn Wharton, Bobby Brown, A’Shawn Robinson, and Shy Tuttle can all contribute stuffing the run, but that’s already where Derrick Brown excels. With limited proven pass rush ability on the edge, I would much rather have rolled the dice on how a penetrator like Milton Williams looks next to Brown, rather than loading up on players who can only be expected to be sporadic contributors to the pass rush.
It would be one thing if this front - which also features the wildly uninspiring linebacker room of Josey Jewell, Trevin Wallace, and Christian Rozeboom - was stacked on the back end, but they’re not. Even if Jaycee Horn is healthy, Mike Jackson is one of the weaker starting cornerback options in the league - if he were the 10th or 11th best player on the defense, it would be one thing, but he might be the 5th best player for this group - and while Tre’von Moehrig shores up one safety spot, Demani Richardson and Nick Scott both struggled badly last year, which would leave it to Lathan Ransom to shore up the position, which is a heavy ask for a fourth-round rookie. Throw in the questionable slot situation, and the fact that a secondary’s overall strength depends more on its weakest link than its strongest, and Carolina’s defense could easily be headed for another bottom-five finish.
Overall Outlook
Things are immeasurably better in Carolina than they were during the horrific start to 2024, but while Bryce Young has turned into a fun player to watch, I question what the ceiling is. Young’s Week 18 shootout with Michael Penix and the Falcons is a great example; Young played his ass off in that game, throwing for three touchdowns, running for two, and nearly capping the game with a 4th touchdown pass to Jalen Coker, only to see Coker go out at the 1 and Miles Sanders run in the winning touchdown on the next play.
It was a super fun watch, but when you looked at Young throwing the ball on one side and Penix throwing the ball on the other, it’s impossible not to notice how different it looks. Atlanta’s young signal-caller has an absolute hose, and that arm strength, and the associated ability to push the ball down the field, changes the spacing for the defense, forcing them to defend more of the field.
What I worry about with Young is that we will consistently see defenses play him like a late-career Drew Brees, who saw defenses creep up closer, and closer, in his final years as a starter. There are certainly ways to compensate for this, and if Young is efficient enough in other areas, maybe he can make up for that, but as it stands, if something is going to prevent Bryce Young from becoming an impact starting quarterback in the league, that’s it.