One of my favorite features has fallen by the wayside, but I was lucky enough to get to chat with Walker Clement of Cat Scratch Reader and discuss the season for the Carolina Panthers ahead of their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Enjoy!
Sort of? I think Young has earned the opportunity to compete in 2025, which realistically means he will be the 2025 starter until and if the wheels fall more fully off. He obviously underplayed his billing in 2023 and has had a weird 2024 season. The bottom line is if he can play more consistently towards the top end of what he has shown this year then he can be a good quarterback in this league and the Panthers will keep him. If he yo-yos between that and the bottom end of what he has shown then he'll middle the Panthers to an uninspiring draft pick in 2026 and then leave them in a worse position than he found them. That, to be clear, is an outcome that is as easy to envision today as it was impossible a year ago.
Canales seems like the real deal. He can scheme an offense, he can inspire players, he can leave a competent defensive coordinator alone to play chess with the checkers pieces that Dan Morgan provided. So far, Canales is checking the boxes. Young is the biggest question mark right now, with the general managers' talent radar being a close second. If provided the proper tools going forwards, then the fanbase seems generally content to give Canales room to run. That's a far sight better than last year's new head coach.
Jalen Coker and Trevin Wallace, both unheralded rookies, have shown up surprisingly strongly through the middle of the season. Coker is a wide receiver who promises strong depth -- and possibly top line talent -- for years to come, while Wallace may be one solid answer in the middle of the minefield of questions that is the Panthers defense. Unfortunately, Wallace's season is now over after landing on injured reserve. The rest is a mix of 'they got what they paid for' for better and worse. And that is reflected in the team's record as well.
Is 'defense' a position? The Panthers went all-in this year on offense to evaluate Young and left the other side of the ball to pay for it. Next year needs to balance the scales and we're all hoping that they land on defensive players with at least their first four picks in the draft. The who is far less relevant than the position, unfortunately.
They could have before last week's spate of injuries. However, now that they only have one experienced inside linebacker and one-and-a-half defensive linemen, we're all expected this to be a tight 45 minute game featuring a nauseating amount of James Conner. The Panthers interesting days are behind them. We're just waiting for 2025.