Cat Scratch Reader
We started this review series talking about the Carolina Panthers rushing attack. Now, we move to the other phase of the offense. It’s everybody’s favorite topic to discuss—Bryce Young and the Panthers passing attack.
Like pretty much every part of this Panthers team, the passing attack could be defined as “just barely good enough to get by.” They were ranked 26th in DVOA and 25th in estimated points added per pass. There were plenty of promising moments and plenty of things that drove Panthers fans mad.
On the good side is Tetairoa McMillan. The Panthers surprised the NFL world by using their second straight first round pick on a wide receiver, especially given other needs on the roster. But McMillan delivered on his lofty draft status. He’s a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year and a heavy, heavy favorite to win it. He had a 1,000 yard season despite inconsistent quarterback play (more on that later) and added a big play threat that the Panthers have been lacking for a long time.
On the bad side, the other first round pick, Xavier Legette, turned into a nonfactor as the season went on, ultimately losing out on the wide receiver two spot to Jalen Coker, an undrafted free agent from the same draft class. His future in Carolina already looks to be in doubt. His awareness and feel were major problems in his rookie season, and if anything they got worse in his second year (see that weird lateral in the Cowboys game and a number of targets where he seemed completely unaware of where the sideline was).
And then there’s the quarterback. After looking much improved to finish his second season, many were hoping for Bryce Young to make a leap in year three. And if he wasn’t going to do that, you’d almost prefer he completely bomb out to make the picture at quarterback. Instead, Young firmly planted himself right in the middle of those two paths. He topped 200 yards passing just five times in 18 games. He had the same number of games throwing for under 150. By just about every metric, he ranks right around the line for the bottom third of quarterbacks that got significant snaps in the 2025 season. While his deep ball was vastly improved over his first two seasons, and he became a virtuoso escaping pressure, he still has some gaping holes in his game that are hard to build around. He can still be hesitant to attack tighter windows down the field. He has moments where he randomly badly misses his target, almost like a videogame that has predetermined an incoming interception even though there’s no defender near the intended target. He badly struggles hitting intermediate targets.
All of that puts the Panthers in one of the more undesirable places you can be when it comes to quarterback. They have a guy that’s not so bad that you feel compelled to upgrade the position immediately, and...
