Panthers PFF Grades: Bryce Young Gets Shortchanged, Defense Bounces Back

The Carolina Panthers dominated the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, keeping them out of the red zone and dropping 34 points on them. It was a stunning display of football from the Panthers.

The PFF grades that drop after the game often tell the story. How did the Panthers dominate? Did the box score line up with the actual performance? In many ways, that's what happened this week. Here are the grades.

Offense:

Chuba Hubbard: 90.3
Bryce Young: 79.0
Darren Waller: 78.8
Tetairoa McMillan: 71.7
Jalen Coker: 69.6
Xavier Legette: 69.5
Damien Lewis: 68.4
Feleipe Franks: 66.8
Monroe Freeling: 65.0
Sam Hecht: 60.0

Defense:

Zakee Wheatley: 93.7
Devin Lloyd: 92.3
Nick Scott: 81.8
Princely Umanmielen: 81.5
Bobby Okereke: 79.3
Will Lee III: 77.4
Akayleb Evans: 75.5
Jaycee Horn: 74.5
Aaron Hall: 73.6
Jaelan Phillips: 67.2

#Panthers Week 2 Offensive & Defensive grades vs the #DirtyBirds (via @PFF ) pic.twitter.com/XgMsPCZD0v
— Panthers Highlts 🖤💙 (@PanthersHighlts) September 21, 2026

It is beginning to look like PFF isn't being totally, completely fair to Bryce Young. Twice in a row, we believe he's deserved a better grade than he has been given. He was lights-out in Week 1 and received an 80.7. That should've been much higher.

This week, he didn't have his best stuff, but a grade in the 80s would've been more than fair. He absolutely diced up the Falcons, especially in the second and third quarters. That's nitpicking, though, because those are good grades.

Chuba Hubbard definitely deserves a high grade, and the receivers all three being here is beautiful. They're rounding into a really nice trio, and in Week 2, Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, and Xavier Legette all had it working.

The defensive picture is much prettier this week. After a true debacle last week, the grades reflect that those on that side of the ball really locked in.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd (55) celebrates after scoring a touchdown on an interception | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We're not sure it's possible to play linebacker better than Devin Lloyd did, so the fact that he's neither a 99.9 nor the top-rated Panther is surprising. However, Zakee Wheatley was also excellent, so that tracks and is another nitpick.

It was nice to see Princely Umanmielen really bounce back. He had an abysmal opening week and caused several scoring plays. He was obviously quite good against the Falcons, and the grade supports that.

We'd like to see Jaelan Phillips do more for his contract, but that's twice in a row he's posted solid grades while playing opposite a backup edge rusher. It's likely he's attracting more attention and opening things up that way.

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