NFL Analyst Calls Panthers a 'Fringe Wild Card Team'

Can Carolina make the massive jump from the league's worst to a playoff team in 2024?

Dec 24, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) during pregame warm ups against the Green Bay Packers at Bank of America Stadium. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

No one, and I mean absolutely no one believes the Carolina Panthers will make the playoffs in 2024. Oh wait, hold on a sec. Yup, as a matter of fact, there is. During a recent guest appearance on The Herd, NFL analyst Adam Chernoff explains why he is bullish on Carolina taking a massive step forward and being on the doorstep of the playoffs this season.

"I think they're a fringe NFC Wild Card team. This is putting Bryce Young in a much better position with the modern coaching staff that is coming in led by Dave Canales. I mean, when you look at Canales has done in his career, he led Russell Wilson to his best-ever career passing in Seattle. He led Geno Smith, who everybody wrote off to his best season and that was better than anything Wilson had in Seattle. And then last year, he revives Baker Mayfield, another QB that everybody wrote off. Bryce Young, a very similar situation around him. He's got competent coaches coaching. And to me, this looks a lot like the Jags in 2021 and 2022 you have (Trevor) Lawrence coming in at QB and was in a very bad coaching staff situation. Expectations came way down after year one, year two...there's the playoff run. I think the Panthers, in a weak division in the South set up very similarly. I think it's a great coaching staff and an organization that's going to compete for that spot of a Wild Card in the NFC."

“I think they’re a fringe wild card team.”@adamchernoff advises bettors to hit the over on the Panthers 2024 win total 👀 pic.twitter.com/c98AeXjmYh

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 23, 2024

While Chernoff is spot on with this coaching staff, I just don't see Carolina taking that big of a jump in one offseason.

Yes, the top-end talent on the offensive side of the football is head and shoulders better than what they threw on the field a year ago. The o-line is much improved, you have more playmaking ability on the perimeter, and more depth in the backfield. However, the depth is a major concern on the o-line and in some ways, at receiver.

Expectations are high for Xavier Legette and they should be, but he is a rookie after all. I view it as Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen are the only proven commodities in that room while everything else is a major question mark. Does Legette live up to the hype? Will Jonathan Mingo bounce back after a rough rookie year? Does Terrace Marshall Jr. finally figure it out? There are more questions than answers.

Defensively, cornerback is a sore spot outside of Jaycee Horn and the second set of guys on the d-line are nothing to be excited about. As GM Dan Morgan has expressed many times, you can't fix everything in one offseason. It takes time. I do believe Carolina will be more competitive in 2024, but labeling them a "fringe wild card team" is a bit too strong.

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