Mailbag: What’s been the biggest concern of recent era of Panthers football?
Panic is starting to set in for the Carolina faithful.
After another blowout loss, the Panthers’ fan base is worried about another lost season. And with more questions than answers brewing around the squad entering Week 5, The Observer has brought back the Panthers mailbag to discuss what is on the minds of fans.
Here are four standout questions from social media:
Biggest disappointment for owner David Tepper
Brent on Bluesky asks: If you are Tepper and nothing has fundamentally changed by the end of the season (and you’ve been atypically patient recently), which issue concerns you the most? 1) A GM who has not significantly upgraded the roster in two years, 2) A coach who is over his head, or 3) No franchise QB on the roster.
If things don’t turn around, for me, probably option 3. And that’s not even as much on Bryce Young as it is on the monumental investment in him and the half-baked approach to acclimating him to the NFL, which dates back to a previous regime.
The Panthers traded wide receiver DJ Moore, the No. 9 overall pick in 2023, a 2023 second-round pick, and first- and second-round picks in 2024 and 2025, respectively, to move up to the No. 1 overall pick to draft Young in 2023. You’re only going to win in the NFL with a competent starting quarterback, and the aggressive approach was commendable at the time, even with the hefty price tag.
However, the follow through was anything but respectable.
Young shouldn’t have started Week 1 of his rookie season after the team signed the perfect bridge QB in Andy Dalton. The talent put around the rookie looked like an NFL offense’s cover band. And the then-head coach Frank Reich (and eventually interim head coach Chris Tabor) switched up the offense and the primary play-caller multiple times. Regardless of how you feel about Young’s talent, no rookie QB would have succeeded in that situation.
But over the past two years, the Panthers have attempted to upgrade the group around Young. The offensive line was terrific last year, and the team has spent back-to-back first-round picks on wide receivers. For the most part, the defense was largely ignored in the 2023 and 2024 offseasons for the sake of Young’s supporting cast, right or wrong.
The Panthers have won eight games since Young was drafted and one of those victories came with Dalton under center. If things don’t turn around, the team will have created a massive value pit from the 2023 trade-up that they will still be climbing out of entering 2026.
I think Young is an NFL-caliber QB, but given the way things have shaken out, it’s hard to anoint him as a franchise quarterback. He’s certainly been given a poor hand in quite a few areas, but franchise QBs are typically talents who can elevate the players around them on offense. Young hasn’t done that consistently to this point, and given the prompt of this question, if that continues, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.
Dave Canales had the NFL’s 23rd-ranked offense in his one year as an offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sure, he had a terrific run with QBs in Seattle as a position coach and passing game coordinator, but he was largely inexperienced as a play-caller, and Tepper hired him to be both a play-caller and a head coach, while overseeing Young’s development.
So, the young, inexperienced offensive coordinator added the top job to his plate, while also becoming the primary QB voice. That loaded decision is pretty easy to poke holes into, and frankly, in retrospect, Canales was the third-most successful Tampa Bay coordinator of the past three years. Canales also hired a staff without the backstop of a potential fill-in offensive play-caller with experience, so he’s been left to hold the coordinator-in-practice baton probably longer than he should.
But also, in fairness to Canales, he inherited a 2-15 roster and a QB that he didn’t get to develop from scratch, so I’m not sure you can be super surprised by the current results. The “developmentally minded” staff has played young players regularly on offense, and youth movements come with a lot of bumps and bruises.
GM Dan Morgan and his front office have made their share of notable mistakes.
The 2024 draft class looks noticeably bad — not 2023 draft class putrid, but uninspiring as of now. Though, that can be partially attributed to the draft inventory Morgan obtained upon his arrival. That said, he was a key voice in the previous regime.
Morgan was part of the decision to trade up for Young, but he wasn’t the final voice. Morgan has been a massive supporter of Young’s and wanted him during the draft process, but he also didn’t negotiate the trade that eventually sapped most of his draft resources and his roster’s depth chart in 2024.
Yes, the Brian Burns trade also looks bad right now, too, but the seeds for such a move were largely planted before Morgan took the top job due to tumultuous contract negotiations that lasted well over a year. Burns is currently co-leading the league with five sacks in four games, while running back Jonathon Brooks — selected in the second round in the aftermath of the Burns deal with the New York Giants — is coming off his second ACL surgery in as many years and has played just three games.
The offseason plan in 2024, in retrospect, was a bunch of high-variance hit-or-miss moves. The team greatly upgraded the offensive line, but the defense was lacking, and the draft class has only had minimal impact.
For what it’s worth, this offseason’s plan seems a lot more thorough, direct and impactful. I’m particularly bullish on the draft class, which has more than sparked with Tetairoa McMillan, Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen and Lathan Ransom. Bobby Brown, Patrick Jones and Christian Rozeboom have underwhelmed from the free-agent lot, but I’ve been impressed by Turk Wharton and Tre’von Moehrig. The handling of the salary cap by football operations exec Brandt Tilis has been mostly logical as well.
I think all three options have their fair share of lumps. And really, all three options compound each other, but the trade up to No. 1 in 2023 is kind of the original sin of gambles. It also furthers the mediocrity of other departments since it hasn’t worked out and there are fewer resources to employ.
Comparing the Panthers to feature films
JW on X (formerly Twitter) asks: On a scale of (Paul Thomas Anderson) films, what do you think the Panthers’ season ends like?
This is tough, especially without trying to spoil films. I’m also not sure if JW is referring to quality or narrative comparison. “There Will Be Blood” is one of my top 10 favorite movies and one of the few 2000s-era movies I consider a true classic. “Boogie Nights” is great, but I haven’t seen the Leonardo DiCaprio-led “One Battle After Another.”
I think “Licorice Pizza” is probably the movie from PTA’s catalogue that I’d select. A bunch of young, unknown actors put together an interesting take on the human experience in a coming-of-age tale with a relatively unsatisfying ending. Also, from a quality standpoint, I think LP is probably the blandest/most forgettable narrative in the catalogue — so I think that fits the Panthers’ general outlook.
What gives with the OL depth?
Andrew on X asks: Brady Christensen signed a second contract but is playing behind Yosh Nijman, Chandler Zavala and Brandon Walton. (What) is that all about?
Sometimes, versatility can impact you negatively in the NFL. Christensen can play all three positions, but clearly, the team doesn’t view him as a permanent starter at any of them. So, he becomes the ultimate fill-in option at whichever position he’s most needed.
The Panthers had originally deemed his value as the swing tackle, but they went with Nijman at left tackle in Week 1. After Robert Hunt and Austin Corbett got hurt in Week 2, the Panthers went with Zavala at right guard and Cade Mays at center. When Zavala got dinged up in Week 4, practice squad lineman Brandon Walton was the next man up until Christensen finally relieved him for substandard play.
I think the decision-making process is clearly flawed, but I will say, Christensen is more valuable as an insurance policy at center than he is at right guard. Christensen is clearly better than Zavala and Walton, but that’s also part of the reason the team is protecting him for emergencies at tackle and center.
Still, at this point, the best five need to play, and Christensen is unquestionably one of the five best remaining linemen, so he should be in the starting lineup. If not, they are clearly not sold on him as a usable cog in this group, and that says more about the staff than the player in this beat writer’s opinion.
For the sake of levity
Jasun on X asks: Can you take other kinds of questions this week? Like if animals could talk, which one would be the rudest?
The Canada goose. Those birds have been mouthy in all of my experiences with them, dating back to my college days when they’d fly south for the winter. Every time they’re around, they are squawking at someone or something, and typically in a very abrasive tone.
If you’re familiar with the Processing Blue podcast (shameless plug!) that I host with Alex Zietlow, you know that I have a lot to say, but man, those geese from up north seem to be loud and ornery for the sake of being loud and ornery.
They don’t seem to clean up after themselves either.
