The Carolina Panthers Have a Serious Lack of Young Talent

Having young talent is important in the NFL, especially when you're a team like the Carolina Panthers, who have a combined 15 wins in the last three seasons. Yet, if you look at this roster, the Panthers have somehow not compiled the sort of young talent you'd expect to see.

The Panthers have no young talent and that's mildly concerning

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

CBS Sports analyst Tyler Sullivan broke down the top 25 players who are under 25, which is an arbitrary youth line drawn in the sand. However, it often predicts long-term stars, which are good for NFL teams to have.

The Panthers had no one on the list. They didn't get a single player there despite having plenty of players at or under the age of 25 by the time the season starts.

Bryce Young qualifies. So does Tetairoa McMillan. Jonathon Brooks, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, Nic Scourton, and others all fit the age range. None of them is considered all that talented among their peers.

It is worth noting that if Colston Loveland made the list after his rookie season, then McMillan should've made the list, too. Nevertheless, he didn't, and while that may be a snub, it does speak to the overall lack of young talent the Panthers have.

The Panthers have some talent, certainly. But their best players are not in that arbitrary but somewhat meaningful "young" group, with Jaycee Horn, Derrick Brown, and Taylor Moton aging well out. Horn just missed at 26, but it's unclear if he would've made it anyway.

A rebuilding team is supposed to acquire young talent, but the Panthers just haven't. It suggests a couple of things. First, that it's very impressive they were able to climb out of the hole of a two and then five-win season to make the playoffs.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) celebrates his score with fans during the second half | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Second, it may not be as sustainable as we think. They seem like a team on the rise, and they have a much better roster this year. But they are lacking those young, foundational pieces that help a team stay good for a long time.

Now, this could change in a year. McMillan will still qualify, and a second good season probably catapults him into the conversation. Brooks could, if he lives up to the hype, make his way into this sort of conversation. Monroe Freeling, Lee Hunter, and other rookies might.

But still, the Panthers don't have an overabundance of young talent. They have done well to drag themselves out of the hole they were in, but this does not look like the prototypical rebuild, so time will tell how successful they really were.

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