A team that finished one season 5-12 would rarely be considered the best-positioned to win the divisional crown the very next year, but that might be the case for the 2025 Carolina Panthers. If the Panthers were a stock, a lot of folks would be buying up as much as they can because they could very well win the NFC South next season.
After getting benched just two games into the season, it felt like the Panthers would be forced to take another hack at a quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. The noise surrounding Young’s future in Carolina reached extreme levels, but once he made his return to the starting role, he quieted everyone. He had a 12/3 touchdown/interception ratio in his return and didn’t turn the ball over in six of those final eight games. He did more than just show promise. He looked like the No. 1 pick.
Being a top-half-of-the-league quarterback isn’t all that far-fetched of an expectation for Young heading into year three. It’s also a rather low bar to set. If he’s just an average starting quarterback, that alone is enough to have you in the playoff conversation. With what he put on tape over the final two months of the season, the Panthers have to feel better about their QB situation compared to most teams. Heck, he could be the top signal-caller in the division by the end of next season.
Depth is addressed on defense
One of the biggest reasons Dave Canales retained Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator is because the defense was up against it right out of the shoot. He and general manager Dan Morgan knew that year one would have some challenges, especially on the defensive side of the ball, because of the lack of quality depth. They had very little wiggle room for injuries and then right off the bat, they lost defensive lineman Derrick Brown and linebacker Shaq Thompson for the season.
There are certainly some positions that need to be upgraded, which Morgan can address via free agency, but the overall depth was the primary issue in 2024. For much of the season, there were several guys on the field who would be, at best, a backup on a contending team who were placed in a starting role. The bottom 20 or so of the roster will see many new faces in 2025, strengthening their top 53.
The NFC South is extremely winnable
If you look around the division, it’s hard to find a team that has a bright future or one that you would view as the one with a target on its back.
New Orleans is an absolute mess right now, from cap space to not having a head coach to major questions at quarterback and an aging roster. Tampa Bay has talent on its roster, but it feels like their window has passed, especially since Tom Brady retired. They have the look of a perennial 9-8 or 8-9 squad with average QB play from Baker Mayfield. And as far as Atlanta is concerned, they have a lot to fix defensively, don’t have as much flexibility financially as Carolina, and who knows what Michael Penix Jr. will be like next fall? There are too many questions and not enough answers for Atlanta to win the division.
