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The 5 Carolina Panthers Sure to Surge in 2026

The reigning NFC South champions are headed in the right direction. Dave Canales’s club has five players in position to make huge impacts this upcoming season.
Russell Baxter|
Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) reacts after making a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half during the NFC Wild Card Round game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) reacts after making a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in the second half during the NFC Wild Card Round game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

This was a 2-15 football team in 2023 that is now a defending division champion, albeit with an 8-9 win-loss record.

The Carolina Panthers still haven't finished above .500 since the 2017 season. There’s been no playoff victory since the 2025 NFC title game.

However, things are certainly looking up thanks to the combination of general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales. Perhaps this is the year they snap both of those hexes. In any case, enclosed is an unsung veteran defender, a 2026 second-round pick, a pair of second-year performers, and an undrafted free agent in 2024 that are primed to make their marks this upcoming season.

5. CB Mike Jackson

In 2024, Morgan swung a deal for a journeyman cornerback who had entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2019. Jackson didn’t see much playing time in his first three NFL seasons but hasn’t missed a game the past four years.

He’s really found his niche with the Panthers. In a combined 35 starts (including playoffs) with Canales’s squad, he’s totaled seven interceptions—including a pick-six of Matthew Stafford in last season’s regular-season win over the Rams (Week 13) and 40 passes defensed. Jackson may be on the verge of Pro Bowl honors.

4. DT Lee Hunter

The 2024 Panthers were lowlighted by an abysmal run defense, allowing a distressing 179.8 yards per game on the ground. They were better this past season (123.3), mainly because standout Derrick Brown was healthy (he missed all but 1 game in ’24).

Morgan made a bit of a move on Day 2 to grab the massive 6’3 1/2”, 318-pound Texas Tech defender. “Hunter projects as an early down space-eater who can make interior offensive linemen work for their gaps,” said NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein pre-draft. He and Brown could team up to wreak havoc in the trenches.

3. WR Tetairoa McMillan

Tetairoa McMillan
Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

A year before the arrival of the University of Arizona product, 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette led Carolina with 49 catches, and veteran Adam Thielen totaled team highs with 615 receiving yards and five TD grabs. The eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft became the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year with 70 receptions, good for 1,014 yards and seven scores.

After reaching the end zone just twice in his first 10 outings, McMillan scored five TDs in the team’s final seven regular-season games. The best may be yet to come for the imposing 6’5”, 212-pound target.

2. OLB Nic Scourton

Nic Scourton
Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Pass and rush are obviously a pair of four-letter words, and that’s just what it’s been for these Panthers in recent years. No team in the league has amassed fewer sacks in the league (89) since 2023. Ejiro Evero’s defense finished with a mere 30 sacks, with Scourton (a second-round pick in 2025) and Derrick Brown tying for the team lead (5.0).

The former will benefit greatly from the free-agent additions of 2025 Pro Bowler Devin Lloyd and more specifically, edge rusher Jaelan Phillips. All five of Scourton’s QB traps came in the final 11 games of the regular season.

1. WR Jalen Coker

The former Holy Cross standout was an undrafted free agent in 2024 who has played in exactly 11 regular-season games in each of his first two seasons. Coker missed the first six weeks of ’25 due to a quadriceps injury and once he warmed up, he was a huge factor down the stretch and in the playoffs vs. the Rams.

Including that clash with Sean McVay’s club, Coker was targeted 36 times by Bryce Young and totaled 28 receptions (77.8 catch percentage) for 378 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 13.5 yards per catch. He just inked a three-year, $35 million contract extension.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.

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