Bryce Young‘s rookie season did not go as planned, and the Panthers’ offense struggled mightily in 2023. Dave Canales was brought in as head coach this offseason, and his track record with respect to developing quarterbacks will lead to optimism Young can improve moving forward. 
While Carolina has made a number of moves at the receiver position this offseason, plenty of emphasis was also placed on upgrading the ground game. The Panthers made a pair of lucrative offensive line additions, adding guards Robert Hunt (five years, $100MM) and Damien Lewis (four years, $53MM) in free agency. Despite still having Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard in the backfield, a number of other options are now in the fold as well.
The Panthers signed Rashaad Penny not long after the draft, during which they made Jonathon Brooks the first running back to hear his name called. The latter was acquired via a trade up the board aimed at preventing the Giants from landing him, a testament to how highly he was valued by Carolina. Brooks could take on a large role during his rookie year, one in which the run game will be a central element of the Panthers’ overall offense.
“That’s what this draft and this offseason was all about,” Canales confirmed during an appearance on The Season with Peter Schrager (video link). “I feel confident that we’ll be able to have a successful run game, which, for me, opens everything else up. It helps third down, it helps move the ball and give you more opportunities.”
The Panthers ranked 20th in rushing last season, one in which Sanders fell well short of expectations after signing a four-year, $25.4MM pact on the open market. Carolina finished dead last in passing and total offense, though, so a step forward from Young and the team’s revamped skill position group will be needed as Canales takes the reins. The rookie head coach oversaw Tampa Bay’s offense last season, a unit which outperformed expectations through the air but finished last in rushing production.
A strong ground game would help ease the burden on Young as he enters an important Year 2 in the NFL. It would also provide Canales an offensive element he did not have with the Buccaneers in 2023 and as such a means of delivering much-needed improvements on that side of the ball with Carolina. The degree to which this spring’s efforts translate to success in 2024 will go a long way in determining the Panthers’ offensive progress.
Was shelling out big money to two guards and trading up for a running back not confirmation enough that the run game was a priority?
Currently, the dumbest and most ass-backwards NFL franchise.
I’ve always favored RBs over QBs but relying on a run game to bring you back from deficits of 2 TDs or more seems unrealistically optimistic in the era of passer-centric football. The Panthers will be playing quite a bit of catch up football in their games this season.
This passer-centric football has lead to lower scoring games, even with the rules protecting the QB. Go ahead and throw the ball time and time again, but get closer to the red zone and it isn’t as easy. Many NFL QBs aren’t great, so all it takes is a sack or INT and the drive is over. The NFL is lucky kickers can make 50+ kicks easily today.
It looks like these new kick return rules will shorten the playing field even more so teams may not find themselves relying on those 50+ FGs nearly as often as before.
Maybe for the first few weeks it’ll be a mess, but teams will adjust and figure out how to limit return yards. Same as with the protect the QB rule and rules affecting the passing game. They were supposed to increase scoring, but the opposite happened.