Carolina Panthers roster still disappoints in latest NFL rankings
Pro Football Focus ranked all 32 NFL rosters. The Carolina Panthers came in the bottom half of the league, again.
Despite all the changes made to the Carolina Panthers' roster during the offseason, Pro Football Focus still has the group ranked in the lower third of the league.
Pro Football Focus ranked all 32 NFL teams' roster. Leading the group were the San Francisco 49ers (No. 1), the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 2) and Philadelphia Eagles (No. 3).
Carolina wasn't mentioned until the No. 30 mark, among the teams mired in mediocrity and constantly rebuilding.
Jim Wyman and Dalton Wasserman listed each team's strengths and weaknesses in the 2023 season. The writers also listed each team's x-factor, rookie to watch and the over/under win total heading into the 2024 season.
For the Panthers, the roster's biggest x-factor heading into the 2024 season is Robert Hunt, a former Miami Dolphins guard Carolina signed to a five-year, $100 million contract.
"When your starting quarterback stands well under 6 feet tall, pass protection should be a top priority," Wyman and Wasserman write. "Carolina’s interior offensive line finished 31st in pass-blocking grade last season, giving Bryce Young no chance to scan the field. The team now has ex-Dolphin Robert Hunt, who posted the seventh-best overall grade among guards and allowed just five pressures in 2023."
Pro Football Focus follows the Panthers' form of thinking in bringing in an offensive lineman early in the offseason. Young was sacked a near-record amount of times during his rookie season. In Hunt and Damien Lewis the Panthers have the assurance that Young won't be running for his life in his second season.
As for Pro Football Focus' rookie to watch, that is tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, the fourth-round selection out of Texas.
"Carolina began Day 3 of this year’s draft by selecting Ja’Tavion Sanders from Texas," Pro Football Focus writes. "An athletic and reliable receiving option, Sanders did not drop a single pass on 67 targets in 2023. The Panthers are thin at tight end, with Tommy Tremble currently projected to start. Sanders could very well make a run at the starting spot despite being a fourth-round selection."
The national media may be low on the Panthers, and for good reason. However, this iteration of the Panthers feels different from years prior. Carolina could surprise folks when it is all said and done.
Panthers QB Bryce Young has improved in the most important area of his game
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has improved in the exact way the team needed him to.
