Tag: Panthers

Carolina Panthers End of the Season Review

by: Knox Buxton

The Carolina Panthers won their season finale 44-38 in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons. I enjoyed watching the game and I was happy with the way Bryce Young performed to end the season. Young passed for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, he also rushed for 24 yards and 2 touchdowns. He made the jump from being labeled as one of the biggest busts during the beginning of this season to being 1st among Quarterbacks in total touchdowns in weeks 16-18. Bryce Young also had a top 10 passer rating and no turnovers in the final 3 weeks.

The Panthers main problem to end this season was their defense. Losing Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson hurt the defense a lot to start the season and it didn’t get any better at the end when Jaycee Horn went out for the last week. Horn was really the only good part of the defense this season because he was the only one to get selected to participate in the pro bowl. I think if the Panthers can build up the defense this offseason and add an elite wide receiver to pair with Bryce Young, they could definitely make a run and surprise a lot of people next season. If I was the General Manager of the Carolina Panthers, I would look to add Tee Higgins or Garrett Wilson if we could get one of them for the right price. I would also go out and draft the best defensive players available in the draft and make sure the players on the defense that got hurt are good to go to start next season. The Panthers have the 8th pick in this year’s draft and there are a lot of ways it could go when it comes to making their selection but ultimately, I think it will need to be a defensive player. Their defense finished at the bottom of the league in pretty much every category, but I don’t think it should be super hard to fix. In conclusion, even though Carolina finished with a 5-12 record, I think the future is bright and Bryce Young is the guy for them.

Bryce Young and the Panthers will prove all the haters wrong

By: Knox Buxton

The 2024-2025 NFL season started on Thursday, September 5th and there is much excitement about this season. Lots of NFL fans and analysts have been counting Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers out, but I do not think they should be doing that quite yet. The Panthers open their season on Sunday, September 8th in New Orleans against the Siants. The Saints are favored to win, but I don’t think it is as easy of a pick as people make it seem. Last season, the Panthers did go 2-15 and finished with the worst record in the league.

On top of that, they didn’t even have their first round pick because they traded it the year before for the first pick in the 2023 draft where they ended up taking Bryce Young. Bryce Young did not have a great rookie season, but I don’t think that it was all his fault. He was playing behind the worst offensive line in the league and also had one of the worst receiving rooms in the NFL. This offseason, the Panthers made it a point of emphasis to go out and sign offensive linemen and add receivers for Young. Carolina went out and signed Robert Hunt from the Dolphins and Damien Lewis from the Seahawks in hopes that it will boost their offensive line’s performance this upcoming season. They also traded up with the Buffalo Bills to draft Xavier Legette from the University of South Carolina with the last pick of the first round. Legette was a standout receiver in college and has all of the physical attributes to be a great player in the NFL. The Panthers acquired receiver Diontae Johnson from the steelers through a trade in March and he has potential to be elite in Carolina. Now that Carolina has made those moves this offseason, I am confident that the Panthers have set Bryce Young up for success in his second year as a pro and have the ability to surprise a lot of people this season

Will Bryce Young turn it around in his sophomore season. 

By: Tucker Burnette

After struggling in his first season as a Carolina Panther, the number 1 overall pick Bryce Young is looking to turn things around in his second season. There have been many excuses made for the young quarterback, but the key factor to success will be if the new hire at head coach will be able to help Young adapt and grow as a quarterback. 

Recently there have been some big-name quarterbacks who have struggled in their first season and then turned it around in their second year under a new head coach. A prime example of this is Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence, much like Young, struggled in his first season under the coaching of Urban Meyers, but when the Jaguars made the switch to Doug Pederson Lawrence flourished. 

The question still remains, will Bryce Young take the leap or will he be just as unproductive? In my opinion Young has all the skills he needs to be a superstar quarterback but he lacks the talent around him. This season his offensive line was one of the worst in the league and his number one wide receiver was Adam Thielen who for the first time in 5 years had over 1,000 yards. The Panthers also do not have a pick in the first round which means the top offensive weapons will be gone by the time they are on the board. With all that being said, I am not a sports analyst and do not get paid to have an opinion but Bryce Young is going to have to take a major step forward next season if he wants to turn the Panthers franchise around.