NFL insider lays out floor and ceiling for interesting Carolina Panthers offense

The Carolina Panthers' offense was excellent down the stretch last season. Despite trying to bring QB Bryce Young back up to speed slowly and losing key weapons like Chuba Hubbard and Xavier Legette for a couple of games at various points, the offense arguably thrived to close out the year.

What will it look like in 2025? It has a new rookie wide receiver, a new backup running back, and a new rookie tight end. It's mostly the same unit, which can provide some good continuity but doesn't exactly scream vast improvement over last year.

Bleacher Report analyst Alex Ballantine believes this offense can easily be above average, but with a caveat. It all comes down to the receivers. If Tetairoa McMillan is the WR1 that Bryce Young needs, this offense can be good.

"Young has some flaws, but he hasn't really been helped by his receivers during his time in Carolina," Ballentine argued. "The Panthers' run game will provide a reasonable floor. Chuba Hubbard behind one of the better run-blocking groups in the league will give Dave Canales something to fall back on, but the best version of this offense can be above average if Tetairoa McMillan can be a trustworthy No. 1, Adam Thielen continues to be a reliable chain-mover and Xavier Legette makes real strides in his second season."

With Hubbard and Rico Dowdle running behind a stellar offensive line, this Panthers offense won't struggle overall, and their passing game could take a leap as Young continues to evolve and gets more help from an improving wide receiver corps.

However, the flip side of that coin, and the floor of this offense, is that those things don't happen. If McMillan isn't the WR1, or if age catches up to Thielen, or if Legette's rookie season wasn't an outlier, then things could be bad.

"Not only does he still need to prove he's the franchise quarterback, but he's also likely to be in some shootouts. The Panthers spent resources to improve the defense, but there's still a long way to go before it's even above average," Ballentine said.

He added, "The offense will still have to be dynamic in the passing game. That falls on Young, but it also falls on a receiving corps that has a lot to prove. Thielen is going to be 35 by the time the season starts, McMillan is an unproven rookie, and Legette didn't wow during his rookie season."

Young had these troubles last year and performed, but that still meant going 4-6 down the stretch. The offense should be better, but it could regress, and that could be troublesome for both Carolina and Young's future.