The Biggest Question Nobody Is Asking About Panthers (And How They Answer It)

There are loads of questions facing the Carolina Panthers in training camp next week. Can Bryce Young take the next step? How will all the new faces on defense mesh? Can the remade offensive line protect Young?

One question, though, looms over all of them, and it could make or break the season.

The biggest Panthers question

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) looks for his receiver during the first day | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The question facing the Panthers has to be where the offense is going to come from. We've seen enough evidence that offense can come from various spots, but we have not seen it happen consistently.

Bryce Young has shown the ability to carry an offense for a game or two, but he has not shown the ability to do that all season and at a very high level.

Chuba Hubbard has carried the offense before, but he was pretty disappointing in 2025, and there's no Rico Dowdle to help salvage the run game this season.

Tetairoa McMillan is fantastic, but his play is largely decided by Young's, so there is a theoretical ceiling on how impactful the second-year wide receiver can be. So, where does the offense come from?

How to answer the question

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (25) makes a catch during the first day | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The easy answer is to just get to the season and see which of the above situations resolves itself. Maybe Bryce Young has a year-four leap in him, and that will take care of everything.

Perhaps Chuba Hubbard's woes in 2025 were injury-related, and a healthy Hubbard will look more like his dominant 2024 self. That would give the Panthers a bellcow to rely on this year.

Maybe McMillan becomes an All-Pro this year, and then it hardly matters who his quarterback is or how well the QB is playing since he can carry an offense.

But the real answer is to find out how much juice is really behind those players (not Young). The real answer is to look long and hard at Jonathon Brooks, Xavier Legette, and Chris Brazzell II.

If Brooks is what the Panthers think he could be, then the offense will have a legitimate weapon that can totally wreck a defense. So, the coaching staff has to find out how much he can do on his twice-repaired knee and how impactful he can be.

If Brazzell or Legette step up, then it opens up everything ahead of them on the depth chart. It creates more opportunities for McMillan and Jalen Coker, so finding the best option for WR3 will help.

If the Panthers can find the needed depth at those spots, then the offense will flow even if there's no central, carrying figure. If not, this could be a really long season on that side of the ball.

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