Panthers offense will need to help defense in 2025
Improving the defense has controlled the conversation when it comes to the Panthers, but some offensive numbers were hideous in 2024. A look at those numbers and some thoughts on the draft.
It’s underwear olympics week - aka the NFL Combine. Dan Morgan and Dave Canales are scheduled to speak to the media on Tuesday and I’ll have some thoughts on what they say later in the week.
Until then, I want to look back at some statistics from 2024.
Don’t let the offense off the hook
There has been plenty of talk around Charlotte in regards to the Panthers upgrading their defense in the coming months. It was historically awful, on par with the Delta’s GPA in Animal House - the worst in Panthers history!
While the defense was awful - they certainly did not get a lot of help from the offense for chunks of 2024.
Football is a complimentary game, right?
Let’s take a look at some of the 2024 statistics from FTN’s NFL Offensive Drive Stats tool.
The Panthers had 179 offensive drives during the 2024 season.
48 of those drives - 27 percent - went 3 and out. That was tied for second worst with Chicago and Cleveland. Note: this only marks drives that ended with a punt.
They averaged 5.64 plays per drive, second worst in the league.
They averaged 28.21 yards per drive, seventh worst in the league.
Their average time of possession per game was 27 minutes 13 seconds, second worst in the league.
Part of Dave Canales’ growth as a coach going into year two will need to center around improving these numbers. The Panthers likely won’t be able to plug every hole they have on defense this year. One way to help your defense out is by making sure they aren’t on the field for more than half the game.
At times during his first season, Canales was quick to abandon the run game and rely too heavily on the pass.
While the defense must improve, the same applies to the offense.
QUICK ROUTES
You won’t see me do any mock drafts here at Sideline Slant. It is way too early to have any idea what the Panthers might do at No. 8. Free agency will play a big part in this. As of this moment, I firmly believe anything is in play - including a wide receiver.
With that said, the biggest question to me is will the Panthers find a way to acquire additional draft capital? They have three picks within the top 100 (8, 57, 74). I have to imagine that they would strongly prefer to add picks before the 57th selection.
Will the Panthers try to prioritize earning compensatory picks in future years? Part of this formula centers around having good players leave for big money elsewhere. The other part also requires not adding more free agents than you lost. The last time the Panthers were awarded compensatory selections was in 2021. Those pick numbers were 222 and 226. The Panthers traded No. 226 as part of the deal to acquire Sam Darnold. The New York Jets ended up trading that selection to the Kansas City Chiefs, who took guard Trey Smith. The Panthers decided to take a long snapper for a social media moment, despite having a solid one on the roster at the time that’s still on the team in 2025.