The Carolina Panthers Still Haven't Given Bryce Young Any Help

When the Carolina Panthers drafted Bryce Young, they had to gut the team, in assets and by trading DJ Moore, to get him. It left his offense in pretty brutal shape, as the marquee free agent signings the front office made to build an offense that only needed a solid QB proved to be utterly horrible.

The WR trio of Jonathan Mingo, Adam Thielen, and DJ Chark was borderline disastrous. Hayden Hurst was a bust. Miles Sanders got one of the worst contracts handed out that offseason. The line was in bad shape.

Thus began a multi-year journey to get Young some help. In 2026, he has a better offense than ever before, but he's still got one of the worst supporting casts in the entire NFL.

Bryce Young still doesn't have good help

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) hands off to running back Chuba Hubbard (30) against the Jacksonville Jaguars | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Panthers immediately went to work after Bryce Young's rookie season. They hired Dan Morgan and Dave Canales to spearhead a rebuild, and Morgan began immediately trying to help Young. They signed two top-tier guards, Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt, to protect him in the middle.

From there, the Panthers have drafted multiple wide receivers, multiple tight ends, and a few offensive linemen. They even drafted two running backs, signed another one, and have drafted a couple of offensive linemen.

Yet, the supporting cast around Young is still lackluster. Part of that is because the historically bad defense needed a major infusion of talent. The other part is that a good chunk of the moves made on offense have been downright bad.

The good: Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker are a terrific one-two punch at wide receiver. Chuba Hubbard is a decent running back who has shown the ability to be really good in the past, so he could bounce back.

The bad: Xavier Legette, Jonathon Brooks, Ja'Tavion Sanders, and Mitchell Evans are all total nonfactors on offense.

Outside of Hubbard, McMillan, and Coker, which is not even a top-tier trio of skill-position players, this offense has little to no juice. It's why FOX Sports analyst Ralph Vacchiano ranked Carolina's offensive supporting cast 25th in the NFL.

He shouted out McMillan, and though he didn't mention Coker, it goes without saying that he's a plus. "It’s the rest of the weapons that should cause concern. WR Xavier Legette, a former first-round pick, was mostly a non-factor last season. The Panthers are counting on Chuba Hubbard to again be their No. 1 back after he had to play a secondary role to the since-departed Rico Dowdle," he wrote.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) shakes hands with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Vacchiano noted that the Panthers got "basically nothing" from its tight ends in 2025, and that might be putting it mildly. And even though Carolina added some firepower to its offensive line, there are going to be two new starters that have to integrate. That's not always a seamless process.

The analyst said McMillan will continue to develop into an elite weapon, but he added that Young needs a lot more help than that. He spoke with an NFL scout who said, "I don’t know how you can expect him to develop into what they need him to be with a surrounding cast like that."

Consider the other offenses in this region of the power rankings: Houston Texans, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Washington Commanders. Those are not the sort of offenses we'd want the Panthers to be like.

Young has to step up, because it's now or never for his future with the team, but that's still an almost unfair ask since the help he has is still pretty dismal.

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