6 burning questions Carolina Panthers fans are asking ahead of 2024 camp
Ranking the Carolina Panthers against their NFC South rivals
At this point, where do the Panthers rank in the quality of its roster as compared to the other NFC South teams? And, in your opinion, does any of these teams, have a superior roster over the others? - Ed H.
As far as the rest of the NFC South goes, the Carolina Panthers are the fourth-best team in terms of quality roster talent. However, it is not far off from the third-place team.
On paper, the Panthers improved. They’ve added plenty of talent on offense and a couple of pieces to their defense. Overall, any optimism placed on this roster is more projecting to what they could be this season and beyond.
It’s not a good team. One can make the argument that this roster has the most potential out of all four NFC South teams, but that might be stretching it.
The Atlanta Falcons have the best overall roster in the division. Some fans remain skeptical about that idea due to Kirk Cousins being the team’s signal caller. He is a significant upgrade over Desmond Ridder - arguably one of the 12 best quarterbacks in football. The roster around him offers talented playmakers like Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson while bestowing the best offensive line in the division.
Atlanta’s defense is still somewhat of a question mark, but they have enough established talent on all three levels to feel comfortable about their high chances of winning the NFC South. The Falcons are followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints. The Panthers have work to do if they want to return to the division they once proudly dominated during the mid-2010s.
Carolina Panthers offensive system
What type of system will the Panthers run for their offense? Is it going to be similar to the “pound the rock” style when Steve Wilks was in charge? - Jack L.
At this point in the process, it is hard to gauge what type of offense the Carolina Panthers will truly run.
Dave Canales has said he is stubborn to the run game and the offseason additions all but point to a more physical offense. I don’t expect them to go full-bore, “pound the rock” football. They have to balance it out and the head coach understands that.
Having an efficient run game helps the offense entirely. It forces defenses to respect the line of scrimmage and creep ever so slightly to the point where offenses can use their passing game to exploit those weaknesses. There will likely be a 60/40 split in terms of running and passing. On the ground, you’ll see a mixture of blocking schemes and concepts such as wide zone, trap, wham, and power.
The passing game will be centered around the strengths of the skill players and Bryce Young. The word alignment has been frequently used during the offseason to describe the mindset and direction of the organization - from the players to the front office to ownership. This year is about the growth and development of a roster with more potential and unknowns than true certainties.
Long story short, Jack, I expect a physical ground game with some zone variations along with a passing attack. This will allow its players to win quickly in the short and intermediate areas of the field to bolster run-after-catch opportunities.