4 pressing priorities for Carolina Panthers HC Dave Canales in 2024
By Dean Jones
What pressing priorities face Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales during his first offseason with the franchise in 2024?
Dave Canales has a lot of hard work ahead after being confirmed as the new Carolina Panthers head coach. It's been a poisoned chalice under David Tepper's ownership. Hopefully, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator can buck the trend and finally get this organization on the path to sustained growth.
It won't be easy. The Panthers have a myriad of problems after enduring one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Canales has already begun rectifying this by molding the coaching staff as he sees fit. That's just a small piece of the complex puzzle that awaits him this offseason and potentially way into the future.
Canales' previous working relationship with Carolina's new president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan helps. There are also no real expectations of this being a quick fix. It's going to take a significant amount of time and effort to pull the Panthers from the NFL's bottom feeders and back into contention.
With that being said, here are four pressing priorities Canales must tackle in 2024.
Carolina Panthers OL complications
Injuries and a lack of depth contributed significantly to a season of steep regression from the offensive line. It also seemed pretty obvious from a long way out that certain players were not fit for the blocking concepts implemented by Frank Reich and Thomas Brown.
Bradley Bozeman and Ikem Ekwonu, in particular, failed to reach their 2022 form within a zone-blocking scheme. Their strengths center on a power-gap philosophy. The same also applies to Austin Corbett, although the former second-round selection is a little more versatile than the aforementioned duo.
Finding the right balance is going to be a key component of Dave Canales' strategy. After all, the trenches hold the key to Bryce Young's growth in Year 2 of his professional career.