Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Dave Canales
Offensive Coordinator: Brad Idzik
Defensive Coordinator: Ejiro Evero
Special Teams Coordinator: Tracy Smith
2025 Summary (W-L Record: 8-9)
The Panthers have shown steady progress since their 2-15 season in 2023. They went 5-12 in 2024 and won the NFC South with an 8-9 record last year. Dave Canales has done a great job of turning this franchise around and almost led the Panthers to an improbable Wild Card win over the Rams last season.
Carolina’s inconsistency last season made them a tough team to figure out, though. They lost games to teams like the Cardinals and got swept by the Saints. Yet they beat the Packers in Lambeau in Week 9 and the Rams at home in Week 13.
Here’s a look at how they clinched that win over Green Bay:
How the Panthers Outsmarted the Packers on Their Game-Winning Drive
We’re only 9 games into the season and the Carolina Panthers have already matched their win total from a year ago. One huge reason for that has been the emergence of running back Rico Dowdle.
The Panthers had an easier path to the playoffs given that they played in the NFC South and were able to make it in with a losing record. Still, it was a milestone achievement and a sign of how far the organization has come in two years. The question this season will be whether or not they can make a more substantial jump and separate themselves from the middle of the pack.
Key Additions
WR John Metchie
WR Chris Brazzell (3rd Rd, 83rd Overall)
C Luke Fortner
LT Rasheed Walker
RT Monroe Freeling (1st Rd, 19th Overall)
OT Stone Forsythe
C Sam Hecht (5th Rd, 144th Overall)
DL Lee Hunter (2nd Rd, 49th Overall)
EDGE Jaelan Phillips
LB Devin Lloyd
CB Will Lee (4th Rd, 129th Overall)
S Zakee Wheatley (5th Rd, 151st Overall)
Key Losses
RB Rico Dowdle
WR Hunter Renfrow
C Cade Mays
RG Austin Corbett
OT Yosh Nijman
OG Jake Curhan
DL A’Shawn Robinson
EDGE D.J. Wonnum
LB Christian Rozeboom
LB Krys Barnes
Biggest Questions Entering 2026
Will injuries derail the Panthers’ season before it even starts?
To have success in the NFL, teams need a lot of things to go right. That includes getting lucky in the health department.
The Panthers, so far, are getting hammered in this area.
Starting left tackle Ikem Ekwonu ruptured his patellar tendon in the Panthers’ Wild Card playoff loss to the Rams last season. Terrible timing. It’s unclear when exactly he’ll return this season.
Starting right tackle Taylor Moton has a blood clot in his lung. His return to the field is TBD.
Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton is battling back from neck surgery with the timeline of his return unknown as well. His counterpart on the D-line, Bobby Brown, isn’t in as serious of shape but is still dealing with a hamstring injury.
Promising second-year edge rusher Nick Scourton tore his ACL on the first day of training camp and is done for the year.
3rd-round wide receiver Chris Brazzell hurt his knee a few days later and is also now done for the season.
This is the part of the game that absolutely stinks. And it’s impossible to predict who will be the luckiest in this department. Right now, the Panthers aren’t off to a great start.
What is Bryce Young?
Young had a miserable rookie year and then bounced back in year 2 from an early-season benching to salvage his career.
Year 3 saw a steady progression from his first two seasons. Young had career highs in completion percentage (63.6%), yards (3,011), TD passes (23), and passer rating (87.8). He’s gotten better each year.
Young also has a flair for the dramatic. His 12 career fourth-quarter game-winning drives are the most in the NFL since he entered the league. And he played really well in the Panthers’ playoff loss to the Rams, almost leading Carolina to a stunning upset.
In the vacuum of his career, Young has shown marked improvement from when he first entered the league.
In the context of the rest of the NFL, though, the Panthers still need more.
Their passing game finished 26th in the NFL last season. They ranked 21st in completions of 20 yards or more. They were the 25th best 3rd-down offense.
The steady improvement is nice, but at some point, Young and the passing game need to make a bigger jump. He has some high level traits from a mental and processing standpoint, so a big leap is possible at any moment.
Is this the year he can put it all together? Can the rapport he clearly had last season with rookie Tet McMillan blossom further and possibly take this passing game to greater heights in 2026?
That’ll be one big thing to watch with this team.
What will the O-line look like?
As mentioned above, the Panthers will be without their tackles, Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton, for an unspecified period of time this season. It’s hard to understate how big those losses could be.
Moton has been a very good tackle throughout his career and Ekwonu seems to have found himself to a certain extent after some early-career struggles.
It seems like the Panthers will roll with free agent signing Rasheed Walker at left tackle and this year’s 19th overall pick Monroe Freeling at right tackle. That’s not a bad plan-b to start the season, but there’s still some unknown there, especially with starting a rookie at tackle.
And that’s not the only new face up front. The Panthers added Luke Fortner at center. Two new tackles and a center… That’s significant change.
The Panthers also added Stone Forsythe (who played in over 70% of snaps last season) and drafted Sam Hecht in the 5th round. They did a good job of accounting for the changes on their O-line by dedicating a lot of resources to the area this offseason and building out their depth. But it’s also an acknowledgement that there’s a lot of uncertainty.
As we all know, good offensive football starts with the men up front. The Panthers want to be a running football team (They were 10th in the league with a 45.6% run frequency rate last year). But whatever they will be on offense might be dictated by what they’re capable of doing up front.
Will the pass rush finally be better?
Talent has certainly been an issue, but defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero hasn’t been able to get the pass rush going since arriving in Carolina in 2023.
In his first year, they ranked 30th in pressure percentage and 32nd in sacks. In 2024, they were dead last in pressure percentage and 29th in sacks. Last year, they were 31st in pressure percentage and 28th in sacks.
Like the other side of the ball, the men up front dictate so much. It’s hard to have a good defense without a good pass rush.
Carolina added edge rusher Jaelan Phillips in that effort this offseason, but I still don’t think it’s enough. It certainly doesn’t help that they just lost second-year edge rusher Nick Scourton for the season, as mentioned above.
Maybe Evero will be a little more aggressive with his pressure schemes this year like he was in 2023 and ‘24 to find a way to manufacture a pass rush?
After all, that the secondary is really good. Even without a pass rush, they somehow managed to limit big plays through the air last season (7th fewest completions of 20 yards or more). They have two really good cornerbacks in Michael Jackson and Jaycee Horn (when healthy).
So perhaps Evero will feel comfortable taking a man out of coverage more often to join the pass rush seeing as the back end of the defense can hold its own?
Either way, they’ll need to figure out something. Even with a good secondary, having a bottom-of-the-league pass rush can only get you so far.
2026 Outlook
The benefit of playing in the NFC South is that it’s wide open. No one would be surprised by any of the four teams taking home the division title this year.
The Panthers certainly have their questions, with health being at the top of that list. To me, their success this year will be determined by that offensive line and whether or not Bryce Young can take a major leap.