Are the Carolina Panthers and quarterback Bryce Young well-equipped on offense heading into the 2024 season? Well, despite their lowly position on his new list, ESPN staff writer Bill Barnwell believes the weaponry could be there.
Barnwell shared his rankings of the NFL’s 32 groups of offensive playmakers on Wednesday—stacking up each team’s collection of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. The Panthers come in at a modest No. 28, but do possess some promise in a few fresh additions:
The semi-new front office in Carolina understandably invested heavily to try to right the ship in Young’s second season, although their biggest signings were at guard. Trading cut candidate Donte Jackson for Diontae Johnson was a nifty move, with the former Steelers wideout averaging more than 2.0 yards per route run in a broken offense when healthy a year ago. Xavier Legette has lots of promise as a big-play threat, although over-age prospects with one year of significant college production don’t typically succeed at a high rate. And I’m excited about Jonathon Brooks’ upside, but the running back is coming off a torn ACL suffered in November. If either Brooks or Legette break out as a rookie, the Panthers should be fine.
The former may very well break out as a rookie, as head coach Dave Canales has not been shy in his intentions to establish run. Brooks, the first running back taken in the 2024 draft, will be joined in the backfield by Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard—who is coming off a career-high 902-yard campaign on the ground.
As far as the wideouts go, Johnson and Legette both bring elements that Carolina’s offense was sorely missing in 2023—separation and big-play ability.
