Nov 24, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) with wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) on the field in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard, Adam Thielen ranked among NFL's worst offensive trios

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 8:00 AM ET

After seven seasons of failure and mediocrity the Carolina Panthers finally appear to have turned the corner with their strong finish to the 2024 campaign. The front office followed up the hot finish by Bryce Young and company with a good offseason, adding help at every single position they needed to and keeping the few quality pieces that they already had on the roster.

Then again, when you're at the bottom you've got nowhere to go but up. While things are heading in the right direction, it's probably going to take some more time and frustrating results before this team is ready to really compete with playoff teams.

The latest evidence that theres' still a lot of work to do is a new list from Matt Verderame at Sports Illustrated, which ranks the top offensive trios for all 32 teams around the NFL. Carolina's triplet of Young, Adam Thielen and Chuba Hubbard came in at No. 29.

SI on ranking Panthers' trio 29th

"Carolina could see this ranking improve significantly if Young improves at the rate he did over the second half of last year. Still, Young needs to prove plenty, and the Panthers don’t have a bonafide All-Pro talent on offense, although Hubbard is an effective back who ran for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns on 4.8 YPC in 2024. The wideouts are young, save for Thielen, who still produced at age 34 with 615 yards and five touchdowns in just 10 games a season ago."

This is the obligatory part where we say the Panthers should be ranked higher on this list. At an absolute bare minimum they have to be considered better than Pittsburgh's putrid trio of Mason Rudolph, DK Metcalf and Jaylen Warren. They're also superior to Indy's Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr. and the Jets' Justin Fields, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson.

We would also take Carolina's listed trio over Denver's, New England's and the Giants', which would put them at No. 23 on this list, one spot lower than the Seattle Seahawks - who should also be placed much higher than they are.

The driver of the rise they should make is the deep ball connection between Bryce Young and Adam Thielen, who was as impressive as any receiver in the league on 20+ yard passes last year. Hubbard is also criminally underrated at his position, although he's clearly benefited from an improved offensive line unit.

No matter what numbers they put up, nobody is going to take this team seriously - or start ranking them where they belong - until they start beating playoff teams. They came close a few times last season - most notably in heartbreakers against the Chiefs and the Eagles. Until they break through and score a signature win the disrespect will continue.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: