The Carolina Panthers’ locker room may be looking more like the dawg pound that president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan had envisioned. But as a whole, there’s still some work to be done.
Jim Wyman and Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus recently ranked all 32 NFL rosters heading into the 2024 campaign. Unsurprisingly, the Panthers were positioned towards the bottom of the barrel—coming in at No. 30.
But why, even with so many additions this offseason, do they remain that low?
Well, according to Wyman and Wasserman, their biggest weakness (their offense) may still be holding them back:
The Panthers ranked 30th in offensive grade last season and tied for the fewest points scored in the league. Wide receiver Adam Thielen was the only bright spot for their offense, as rookie Bryce Young struggled to find breathing room behind a porous offensive line. New head coach Dave Canales has a ton of work to do to overhaul this unit.
Carolina, who finished at a league-worst 2-15 this past season, also ended up with the very worst offense. The unit ranked dead-last in both points per game (13.9) and total yards per game (265.3).
On the bright side is the defense, which was identified as their strength from 2023:
Despite Carolina’s nightmarish 2023 season on offense, their defense played reasonably well under Ejiro Evero. They ranked fourth in total yards allowed per game and 16th in defensive grade. The biggest flaw in their performance was that they had the fewest takeaways in the NFL, but they often kept their inept offense in games.
In addition to securing the fewest takeaways, the Panthers recorded the fewest sacks in the NFL. And after the departures of their sack leaders in Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu, that could very well be the case again.
When it’s all said and done, however, PFF sees that 30th-ranked roster hitting the over on their projected win total of 4.5:
Most of Carolina’s success will be tied to the level of improvement from Bryce Young. Fortunately for him, the team brought in a new play caller, Dave Canales, as well as several new offensive linemen and weapons. Any substantial improvement on offense should at least get this team to the five-win mark.
