Most encouraging, discouraging aspects of Panthers’ 2025 season before bye week?
The Carolina Panthers enter the bye week with a 7-6 record with four games remaining in the regular season.
With the division title still within reach, fans are naturally curious about the future. That’s why The Charlotte Observer has brought back the Panthers mailbag to answer some questions during the brief break in the action.
Here are some standout questions from social media:
Panthers mailbag: Good and the bad entering the bye week
Adam on Bluesky asks: Going into the bye, what are a few things you are most encouraged by, so far. Conversely, what are a few things you are most discouraged or concerned about?
Mike Kaye: The Panthers are really hard to figure out on a week-to-week basis, as evidenced by my mortifying 4-9 weekly game forecast record. The whole Jekyll and Hyde gimmick makes covering games fun, but it also makes for an emotional roller coaster for fans.
That said, there’s plenty to like about the Panthers heading into the bye week.
Before the season, I predicted the team would go 7-10 this season. They’ve already matched that win total, so in theory, they are playing with house money against my preseason forecast. I hovered between seven and eight wins throughout the summer, and my colleague, Alex Zietlow, decided to go with eight wins, and he’s better off for it.
For all the faulty play-calling moments this season, I think Dave Canales knows who he is as a head coach and what he believes in offensively. I think it’s clear in speaking with players that he has created an environment of positive vibes and notable self-accountability. Rico Dowdle’s chat with the media last week about Canales’ self-assessment of his performance against the San Francisco 49ers somewhat crystallized that outlook. Canales is at his best when he reassesses his mistakes from the previous weeks.
Defensively, this team is exponentially more talented than it was in 2024. Coordinator Ejiro Evero has, for the most part, found ways to improve the run defense while not sacrificing too much of the pass game coverage. Last season, the unit gave up 179.8 rushing yards and 31.4 points per game. This season, the improved group is giving up 118.7 rushing yards and 22.8 points per game. The passing defense is also giving up 12.3 less passing yards per game on top of that, compared to last year.
Also, kudos to assistant head coach Harold Goodwin and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert — along with offensive quality control coach Dean Petzing — for the work they’ve done with the offensive line. The group has had 10 different starting combinations in 13 games, and for the most part, they’ve hovered between admirable to respectable to dependable in pass protection and run blocking. The improvement of Ickey Ekwonu over the past two years also hasn’t gone unnoticed, and the same could be said for the performance uptick of Cade Mays as well.
The most encouraging sign, though, is the 2025 draft class. This group has added a huge of amount of talent and energy into the roster, and that will help the Panthers balance the depth chart and the salary cap over the next few years. Tetairoa McMillan and Nic Scourton are legitimate NFL starters. Princely Umanmielen, Trevor Etienne, Lathan Ransom and Mitchell Evans are valuable role players. The scouting department also nailed its evaluations of the undrafted rookies like Ryan Fitzgerald, Bam Martin-Scott and Corey Thornton. While the Panthers tried to establish a meaningful core last season, the legitimate long-term nucleus of this squad started with this offseason.
From a discouraging standpoint, it’d be nice to see the offense succeed from week to week. Too often, quarterback Bryce Young will have a dandy performance followed by a letdown. That’s not solely on Young — the play-calling has been relatively inconsistent. Throughout the first half of the season, it felt like Canales struggled with trusting the passing game vertically. Since he’s opened it up to downfield shots — inconsistently — Young has shown signs of being a legitimate starting QB. Unfortunately, those moments are frustratingly fleeting, as the next week, he’ll look inept, whether because of his own performance or the play-calling. As with everything in football, success and failure come with nuance, not necessarily one person’s greatness or failures.
The pass rush — Sunday’s effort notwithstanding — has left a lot to be desired. Derrick Brown leads the team with four sacks, and the defense has 18 sacks overall (tied for second-worst total in the NFL) through 13 games. DJ Wonnum, who has played 69% of the defensive snaps on the season, has yet to notch a sack on the season.
The Panthers need to figure out ways to produce increased pressure down the stretch, or Baker Mayfield (twice) and Sam Darnold will cut through the defense.
Derrick Brown’s Panthers legacy
Leonard on X asks: When it's all said and done, where do you think Derrick Brown will land on the greatest Carolina Panthers of all time list?
Brown’s legacy is really only beginning. He’s been phenomenal for about three years, and the arrow keeps pointing upward.
While he was drafted as a prospect with a high floor, his ceiling has seemingly risen beyond most evaluators’ initial takes in 2020. Not only is Brown a consistently great run defender, he’s also evolved into a consistent pass game disruptor under Evero and defensive line coach Todd Wash.
Brown leads all NFL defensive linemen with seven pass breakups in 13 games. He’s leading the team in sacks, and his role as a top leader in the locker room has had a huge impact on the team. He has a presence in that building, and despite being only 27, he feels like a player that even the older players look up to as a captain.
On a scale of one to Julius Peppers, Brown has already entered the Shaq Thompson/Dan Morgan echelon of Panthers defenders. His one Pro Bowl matches the Panthers GM’s career quota and surpasses Thompson’s lack of national notoriety.
Brown should be in the running for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. He’s assuredly earned a second Pro Bowl nod — whether he gets it or not, because the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He’s also the team’s nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship award.
Brown is a pillar of the franchise right now. If the team continues to have improved success under Canales, Brown will be remembered as one of the greats of his era, along with cornerback Jaycee Horn.
It’s hard to compare him to Peppers or Luke Kuechly, because those guys are no-doubt all-time greats in the sport. But if the Panthers reach another Super Bowl with Brown at the wheel on defense, he will be remembered in the same breath as guys like Greg Olsen, Thomas Davis, Muhsin Muhammad, Jordan Gross and Ryan Kalil.
He’d need to clear multiple All-Pro honors to be in the discussion with Peppers, Kuechly, Cam Newton and Steve Smith.
A Robert Hunt revival?
Alex on X asks: Any realistic shot Robert Hunt plays after the bye week? I keep hearing that it’s a possibility. Still seems unlikely to me with the severity of his injury.
Hunt has been rehabbing from his biceps surgery since September. He was injured in Week 2, so he’s got about 10 weeks of recovery under his belt.
Without knowing the extent of his left biceps injury, it’s hard for me or anyone outside the organization to know what his timeline might be.
For what it’s worth, Canales was asked about his recovery on Monday.
“He’s working his way back,” Canales said. “He’s doing a great job in ‘return to play’ (rehab). He’s getting stronger, and we just have to continue to take it week by week to see — we want that strength in his arm to come back so he has balance to be able to stop a big man and try to redirect — and we’re going to have to be really smart about that. I can’t exactly tell you what the timeline is, but it’ll be a weekly thing to kind of see where he’s at.”
Biceps injuries can be season-ending in nature. There are also players who have returned from minor biceps injuries as well.
Canales isn’t ruling out an in-season return, but it doesn’t sound like Week 15 will be the liftoff date. Remember, even if the Panthers designate Hunt to return from injured reserve, he has a 21-day practice window to use to return to form.
Canales said Hunt’s timeline won’t be impacted by the team’s playoff contender status during the final month of the season. Carolina is prioritizing the Pro Bowl lineman’s health.
“The focus has to be just on Robert’s health,” Canales said. “When he’s healthy and ready to go, he’ll play for the Panthers, and that could be this year. And I hope it is, but really, it’s like if we had a chance to get Rob back, we want him back.”
