Panthers Stock Report: Who's Rising and Who's Falling After Week 1?

The Carolina Panthers didn't get the result they wanted Sunday, falling 59-37 to the Chicago Bears in their season opener. There were plenty of things that went wrong, especially on defense, but that doesn't mean everything that happened was bad.

A few players came into Week 1 with something to prove and left the game with their stock going up. Others had performances they would probably like to have back. That's going to happen over the course of a long season, but after one game, we at least have our first look at who helped themselves and who didn't.

It's only Week 1, so nobody's season is going to be defined by one game. Still, there were definitely a few Panthers who stood out for the right reasons and a few who stood out for the wrong ones.

Here's the first Panthers stock report of the season.

Stock Up

Bryce Young

The game didn't end the way he wanted, but Panthers fans should feel pretty good about what they saw from Bryce Young. He wasn't simply padding his stats after the game was already over. Young was putting up those numbers while the game was competitive, and for a while he and Caleb Williams were going back and forth.

Young finished 23-of-37 for 361 yards and three touchdowns, and also scored one on the ground. He did throw an interception, so I'm not saying he played a perfect game. He didn't. But when your quarterback helps put 37 points on the board, it's hard to point the finger at him for the loss.

The big question coming into the season was whether Young could build on what he did last year. We aren't going to know that answer after one game, but this was a pretty good start. If this is the Young we're going to see this season, Panther Nation has plenty to look forward to.

Jalen Coker

At what point do we stop being surprised by Jalen Coker? He came out of nowhere last season and showed he belonged, and then he went out on Sunday and did it again. Coker caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard score in the second quarter.

The difference now is everybody knows about him. He's not some unknown receiver catching teams by surprise anymore. There is tape on him, teams know Carolina wants to get him the football and he still went out and had a huge game.

I said it after watching him last season and I'll say it again now: I think we're only seeing the beginning with Coker. Teams are going to game plan for him, especially if he keeps having games like this. How he responds to that will tell us a lot, but right now his stock is definitely going up.

Chuba Hubbard

Chuba Hubbard didn't get the ball a ton Sunday, but when he did, he made something out of it. He carried it 10 times for 49 yards and also contributed in the passing game. Hubbard finished with 87 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.

His 2-yard touchdown run tied the game at 31 in the third quarter. At that point, Carolina was right there and had a real chance to win the game.

Hubbard may not get 20 carries every week with the weapons Carolina has on offense now. I'm not sure he needs them. If you can get 87 yards and two touchdowns out of 13 touches, you'll take that every Sunday.

Stock Down

Derrick Brown

I really don't like putting Derrick Brown on this list. There is no question how talented he is, and he's one of the guys Carolina is counting on to lead this defense. But he had two costly penalties Sunday, and both came at bad times.

His roughing-the-passer penalty helped keep a Chicago drive alive when Carolina badly needed a stop. Then Bobby Brown III appeared to come away with an interception in the end zone, only for Derrick Brown to be called offside and wipe the play away.

To Brown's credit, he took responsibility for it after the game. I'm not suddenly worried about him because he had a bad afternoon. He's too good a player for that. But this is a stock report based on what happened Sunday, and this wasn't his best day.

Tetairoa McMillan

I went back and forth on putting Tetairoa McMillan here because he really didn't have a bad game. Five catches for 75 yards is a solid afternoon, and I'm definitely not worried about what he's going to bring to this offense.

It's the fumble that puts him here. Carolina was trying to stay in the game when McMillan lost the football, and against a Chicago offense the Panthers couldn't stop, giving them another possession was about the last thing Carolina needed.

So I'm not saying McMillan's stock is suddenly crashing after Week 1. Far from it. But if we're picking three players whose stock went down based only on Sunday's game, that turnover has to count for something.

Jimmy Horn Jr.

Jimmy Horn Jr. is here because of one play, but it was a big one. Horn muffed a punt, Chicago recovered it, and the Bears ended up getting three points out of the extra possession.

That's one he'd probably love to have back. Horn is a young player trying to find his role on this team, and special teams are going to be a big part of that. He can't give the football away in those situations.

That doesn't mean one mistake defines his season. The same goes for Brown and McMillan. We're talking about one game here, and all three will have a chance to move right back to the other side of this list.

It's Week 1. Next Sunday, this list could look completely different.

Add us as a preferred source on Google