• ShareCopied to clipboard

From Bust Talk to Breakthrough: Carolina’s Youth Movement Arrives

January 12, 2026

The magical Carolina Panthers season came to a close Saturday afternoon in an amazing game that kicked off the NFL Playoffs. First and foremost, can we acknowledge what we’ve seen in Bryce Young this season? He’s dealt with being labeled a bust, benchings and so much more outside noise after a rough start to his professional career. He kept Carolina around long enough to give their team a shot at the post season and played incredibly well. Young kept his team in it against a tough Rams defense throwing for 264 yards and a touchdown. Though there was a costly interception and a low completion percentage, he found ways on the ground to make an impact and found a rushing touchdown. Most of this was done without his starting left tackle who was carted off after an ugly leg injury. It should also be noted that the run game wasn’t really there to assist and most of this game hung on the arm of BY. What can we take from this game moving forward?

I think we can comfortably place Bryce in the mid QB2 range for 2026. A big reason for that are his weapons which we’ll talk about in just a moment. Young posted career highs in both yardage (3,011) and touchdowns (23). At about the halfway point of the season, he started using his legs more to keep plays alive. It wasn’t enough to make a big difference in points per week, but it’s enough to pick up 3rd and shorts and keep the sticks moving, allowing for their offense to stay on the field.

Perhaps the most exciting part of seeing the Panthers offense remain on the field is standout rookie Tetairoa McMillan. He was effective for Carolina from week 1 but lived in the shadows of Emeka Egbuka who was seemingly going for 100 yards a game early on. Egbuka eventually fell off but T-Mac just kept going, and finished with 1,014 yards and 7 touchdowns to go along with his 70 receptions. That was good enough for 12.4 ppg (ppr) and a WR16 finish. The big thing that we got to see in the final few weeks of the season was McMillan being more than just a big body receiver. He’s able to go up and grab it but he’s also able to shake coverage and take off with his 4.48 speed. Depending on his ADP next season, he could be an interesting target.

Another pass catcher that really caught on towards the back of the season was Jalen Coker. 9 grabs for 134 yards and a touchdown isn’t too shabby for a playoff game against the Rams. The only real issue is that the production kind of alternates between him and Xavier Legette. Both had very similar stat lines to end the season but it was Coker who came up the largest when his team needed him the most.

Chuba Hubbard signed an extension and is locked in through 2028. He lost a lot of time to Rico Dowdle who went bananas for much of the season but then it turned into a weird timeshare when both were healthy. Rico will more than likely move on with his one year that he signed for coming to a close, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the two sides could work out a cheap deal for his return. Another name we’ll have to keep in mind for next as well will be the return of Jonathon Brooks. Coming off back to back ACL tears, we’ll have to look deeper into the offseason if the Panthers give any signs on what they’re doing. Examples being spending a late round draft pick on a running back, signing Dowdle, etc.. They used a second round pick on him in the 2024 draft and he should be, by all accounts, fully healthy come camp. I’m not sure I’d want to invest any early to mid round capital in this room. However, I wouldn’t be afraid to invest a late-ish pick on one (depending on who remains) because, as we all know, weird things happen and anything can change once we’re in season and injuries start taking place. A good example of that this season is Sean Tucker having big weeks while Bucky Irving was out.

The biggest benefit of the Carolina Panthers, and this applies to all teams in the NFC South, is the division they play in. The defenses aren’t great and it’s trending towards another year of shootout football.

Keith, Author

Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.