Taylor Moton led the way as a host of Panthers received solid grades from PFF, including a massive year-over-year improvement for Bryce Young.
The good people at Pro Football Focus spend enormous amounts of time breaking down every player’s performance on every individual play throughout the season. In the end, players can then be given a final rating somewhere between zero (poor) and 100 (elite). Panthers players who did not receive a position rating in 2024 by PFF will show as “NA” in the table below.
If you want to learn more about PFF’s methodology, you can read their Player Grade overview.
Most of us as fans view PFF ratings this way: “If the grade fits my opinion of a player then it’s credible, but if the grade conflicts with my conclusions then PFF is stupid garbage and should never be trusted.” I’m not advocating for PFF, rather I’m just providing one set of data that’s at least interesting. Here’s how PFF graded and ranked the Carolina Panthers primary offensive players.
Quarterback
What a difference a year makes! The most positive development during the Panthers 5-12 season was the progress made by Bryce Young during the second half of the year. Last year Young’s PFF grade of 56.0 ranked 35th of 38 quarterbacks. This year PFF ranked him as a league-average quarterback and he closed the season as one of the hottest signal callers in the entire league.
Running backs
Chuba Hubbard had a terrific season rushing for 1,195 yards and scoring 10 rushing touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Throw in another 43 receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown, and the argument could be made for Chuba making the Pro Bowl. But this wasn’t a one-year wonder season for Hubbard. In 2023 his PFF grade of 77.2 was the highest of any Panthers offensive player and a few points higher than his 75.9 2024 grade.
Wide receivers
Adam Thielen continues to deliver kidney shots to Father Time and his solid PFF grade reflects what the eye test saw. The combination of his savvy route running and ability to make contested catches led him to average 61.5 receiving yards per game in the 10 games in which he appeared. He is a Top 30 receiver according to PFF.
Jalen Coker was a revelation. Going from and undrafted rookie out of Holy Cross this year to ranking as the 43rd best wide receiver in the NFL is a spectacular debut season.
In my opinion, rookie first rounder Xavier Legette played much, much better than 59.3 PFF grade. He hauled in 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns, which is a solid season for a rookie. He only caught 58.3% of his targets, which likely dropped his grade, but he also had a number of nice plays throughout the year. He’s got a bright future.
Tight ends
For what feels like the 243rd year in a row, PFF dumped on the Panthers tight ends. Both Tommy Tremble and rookie Ja’Tavion Sanders failed to crack PFF grades above 55 and each ranked toward the bottom half for their position.
I’m also going to quibble with Sanders’s 52.5 PFF rating as being too low, but that just may be due to the fact that I’ve watched too much subpar tight end play since Greg Olsen left town. Regardless of his PFF rating, Sanders produced 33 catches for 342 yards and a touchdown while flashing potential to develop into a solid receiving threat.
Offensive line
The offensive line was the strength of the Panthers offense. Tackles Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton both graded out above league average with Moton nearly cracking the Top 20 among tackles.
Free agent guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt delivered as well. PFF ranked Lewis as the No. 13 tackle in the league with Hunt at No. 23.
The center position featured three different starters in Austin Corbett, Brady Christensen, and Cade Mays. Mays held down the starting spot to close out the season and was ranked as the No. 17 center by PFF, which is great news for the Panthers. Remember, Mays was waived by Carolina before the beginning of the 2024 season and signed with the New York Giants practice squad. In October the Panthers signed him away from the Giants practice squad to their active roster, so his emergence this year was found money.
The Panthers decision to bench Brady Christensen was highly questionable. He had another steady, productive season playing multiple positions across the offensive line. He started at center from Weeks 6-8, then started at left tackle in Weeks 9 and 10. After a Week 11 bye he was unceremoniously benched from Weeks 12-15 playing just eight offensive snaps and a handful on special teams. Christensen then drew a spot start at center in Week 16 and was then benched for the final two games, playing just a few snaps.
Christensen is now a free agent. The Panthers jerked him around throughout the second half of the season. If I was his agent I’d be calling every team in the league that needs a starting-caliber interior offensive lineman who can also play tackle in a pinch. He’ll probably find greener pastures outside of Carolina as a free agent next year, which seems like a preventable shame if that indeed comes to pass.