2024 Questions for ‘24: Why are there reasons for hope in Carolina?

Can the Panthers exceed some very low expectations going into 2024?

As we look forward to the 2024 season, today we are finishing the final segment of our “24 Questions for 2024” that will shape the Panthers present and future.

What does a “successful” 2024 campaign look like?

No rational fan is expecting the 2024 Carolina Panthers to pull a 2003 “Cardiac Cats” and make a thrilling run deep into the postseason.

Heck, few rational Panthers fans will even have a 2024 playoff berth as a legitimate possibility.

The way we ultimately judge something to be a success or a failure is often a function of our expectations going in. A team with preseason Super Bowl aspirations would view a 9-8 regular season record as a disappointment. Conversely, a team that has been generally terrible for the last five seasons (like, for example, the Panthers) would be overjoyed to unexpectedly end up with a winning 9-8 record.

So what does a successful 2024 look like for the Panthers? The answer comes in three parts:

First, new coach Dave Canales and his staff prove to be innovative on offense, adaptable on defense, and generally competent. It has been a while since words like “innovative” and “generally competent” have been used in describing Carolina’s coaching staff, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Panthers are going to lose a lot of games in 2024 and that’s fine as long as Canales & Co. can show they are building a solid foundation for the future.

The second measure of success is Bryce Young developing into a serviceable quarterback. By “serviceable” I mean that Young demonstrates that he can at least put the Panthers offense in a position to be competitive most weeks. For lack of a better term, success is Bryce Young becoming a capable game manager. Sure, that’s a disappointingly low bar for the second season of a former No. 1 overall pick, but Bryce is going to need to learn to walk before he can run. At the end of his rookie season, he was barely crawling.

Third, the Panthers play well enough that they are still “in the mix” late in the season. When Carolina started 2023 with an 0-6 record, the season was over by mid October. That’s just lame for fans. While we don’t expect a Super Bowl in 2024, we at least want a reason to care in November and December. If the Panthers aren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by Thanksgiving, I’ll consider that a successful season.

Why are there reasons for hope in 2024?

The beauty of the NFL is every team has a one-in-four chance of winning their division and getting a guaranteed playoff bid. Carolina’s main reason for hope in 2024 lies in the fact that they are members of the chaotic, inconsistent NFC South.

The Atlanta Falcons made the division’s biggest splash by signing quarterback Kirk Cousins, but in addition to being a solid quarterback he’s going to be 36, coming off an Achilles tear, and is learning a new system. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave $100 million to quarterback Baker Mayfield after a solid 2023 campaign, but his career has been marred by inconsistency. The New Orleans Saints went 9-8 last year but their fans spent most of the season booing new quarterback Derek Carr.

The NFC South doesn’t have a steamroller. There isn’t any one team that should easily run away with the division.

Maybe – just maybe – if Bryce Young takes a step forward, the Panthers offensive line plays like a Top 10 unit, Miles Sanders gets his groove back, Ejiro Evero can spin straw into gold on the defensive side of the ball…

That’s a lot of “maybes”, but all the Panthers need to do is outplay three other teams in a division that lacks an alpha.

Why could rational fans be pessimistic about 2024?

Pessimism can abound because over the last five years we’ve all morosely muttered the phrase “Panthers gonna Panther” way too many times.

Being pessimistic about the recent past and the current prospects of the Carolina Panthers doesn’t make you a pessimist. It makes you a realist. This franchise has perpetually disappointed its fans over the last half decade, and 2024 is shaping up to be a “soft tank” season.

The Panthers were the worst team in the NFL last year and are ranked dead last going into 2024.

Oh, man, I feel like I need a Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley right now.

Should any “second wave” free agent signings give us some hope?

Yes, and it’s safety Jordan Fuller.

Quality and depth is lacking across almost all of the Panthers defensive groups right now, so bringing Fuller into the fold is a boost. Through 48 games over four seasons he has averaged 5.8 tackles per game with a career-high 113 tackles in 2021.

After an injury-shortened 2022 campaign he rebounded in 2023 with 94 tackles, three interceptions, and three fumbles recovered. Jordan Fuller doesn’t replace the voids left by Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu, but he could be an impact player in a thin Panthers secondary.