This week, Matt Holder of Bleacher Report took a look at each of the 32 teams and came up with the biggest question facing each organization. When it came to the Carolina Panthers, the focus was not on the league’s worst defense in 2024, rather Holder asked whether the team’s young signal-caller could build off last season’s strong second-half showing?
“Young is coming off a roller coaster of a season in year two, but he did end up showing signs of development by the end of the campaign. Now it’s just a matter of taking the next step and adding a new weapon in Tetairoa McMillan will help, especially since those two seem to be gelling well in OTAs.”
Holder added that “the No. 8 overall pick is involved early and often in practice,” Darin Gantt and Kassidy Hill of the Panthers’ website wrote on May 30. “...We’ve seen McMillan folded into the passing game more and more. Quarterback Bryce Young spreads the ball around, with McMillan becoming both a downfield target and a quick out...There was one catch in particular that stands out, when Young looked off a defender and sent a rainbow down the left sideline.
"It was a great throw by the quarterback, dropping it in over his receiver’s tall frame. But the rookie McMillan did his part as well, getting in front of a veteran corner in Mike Jackson, and bringing in the catch in stride.”
Young and the former University of Arizona standout are building some much-needed rapport. There’s another newcomer in veteran Hunter Renfrow (who sat out 2024), while Adam Thielen, 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker all return as well. All 15 of Young’s touchdown passes came in the team’s final 10 games, while he was picked off only six times, and he also ran for five scores. Encouraging numbers indeed.
