Count me in as a believer of the Carolina Panthers going forward. They may be one of the biggest rivals of my Atlanta Falcons, but I recognize this Charlottean football team is trending up in a similar manner as mine that hangs out in Flowery Branch. One of the reasons why I am high on the Panthers moving forward is their second-year head coach Dave Canales. He sets Bryce Young up for success.
That being said, Carolina needs to be careful with how it builds a supporting cast around Young. Tetairoa McMillan is a great wide receiver, but Carolina let Atlanta draft Charlotte-area native Jalon Walker seven picks later out of Georgia. I am sure he will never forget that. Regardless, Young needs to have a reliable ground game to lean on. Unfortunately, Jonathon Brooks is now down for the count.
Brooks has been placed on the PUP list already, meaning he is out for the entire 2025 campaign. Carolina still has Chuba Hubbard on the roster and just drafted Walker's former UGA teammate Trevor Etienne last month. While they did lose Miles Sanders to the Dallas Cowboys, he was essentially swapped for former South Carolina star Rico Dowdle after his five seasons with the Dallas franchise.
Young needs to lean on the trio of Dowdle, Etienne and Hubbard to overcome losing Brooks here.
What are reasonable expectations for the Panthers this season as an improving NFC franchise?
Rico Dowdle shall be forced into action after Jonathon Brooks' injury
Throughout his playing career, Dowdle has been able to carve out a meaningful role as a high-end, complementary back. He may not have carried the same amount of clout in college that Hubbard did at Oklahoma State or what Etienne did split between Florida and Georgia, but he was a presence in the backfield at South Carolina for sure. The Asheville native made it a point to come home this year.
As far as how good Carolina can be, they have an outside shot at winning the NFC South. That would require the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulling back and for Atlanta to self-destruct like the Falcons often do. The only team in the NFC South that is not winning the division this year would have to be the rebuilding New Orleans Saints. I would be stunned if they did enough to even qualify for the playoffs.
For Carolina, this upcoming season needs to build off what we saw in the second half of last year. Young got better after he was briefly benched in favor of the veteran Andy Dalton before being reinserted into the starting lineup. It just goes to show that Canales has the right makeup to be a great coach in this league. The talent is not quite there in Charlotte, but I can sense the turnaround.
Dowdle will play a part in the Panthers' quest of winning more games than they lose this NFL season.