Analyst says Panthers' passing game 'too raw' to overcome bad defense

There are still those in the NFL media who believe Carolina Panthers QB has to prove himself over a full season before we can make any judgments on him. His 10-game sample after returning from the bench is small and doesn't outweigh the overall career, but it was substantial enough, and he was more than good enough to have silenced those takes.

Alas, they persist, and one NFL insider believes that until we actually do see that level of play for 17 games (as if anyone has 17 great games and no duds in the NFL), the passing offense is too unpredictable to expect anything from Carolina in 2025.

Panthers offense won't overcome the defense

Aug 8, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) during pregame warm ups against the Cleveland Browns at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Despite a lot of work to fix the defense, the Carolina Panthers still have a relatively lackluster roster. That was true, though, last season when they managed to go 4-6 down the stretch when Bryce Young came back from the bench.

Still, Sportsnaut's Matt Johnson thinks they're the 29th-best team in the NFL because their defense is abysmal and their passing offense is unpredictable. "Simply put, the Carolina Panthers roster isn’t good enough right now for them to be very competitive," he wrote.

He did acknowledge that Bryce Young showed more than enough to inspire confidence, but he added that full-season caveat. "Carolina has provided him with a solid offensive line and a promising group of pass catchers in Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker," he said.

Unfortunately, that isn't going to cut it in 2025. "This passing game is still too raw to overcome how bad the Panthers’ defense is likely to be this season," he concluded. The Panthers, in these rankings, only outdid the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans, all teams without franchise QBs that have taken an NFL snap yet.

Young managed to go 4-6 and be competitive even in most of those six losses (you could probably exclude the Dallas Cowboys and one Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss from that as they were blowouts) with a historically bad defense and a lackluster supporting cast. Improvement is very possible no matter what any analyst thinks.

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