Carolina Panthers News

After logging 1,366 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns in 2024, Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard saw his production dip in 2025. Across 15 games, the 26-year-old recorded just 734 scrimmage yards and four scores. Hubbard opened the year as the Panthers RB1, but an early-season injury opened the door for Rico Dowdle to take over the lead rusher role in Carolina. However, Dowdle signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in March, which could provide Hubbard an opportunity to reassume a three-down role. The Panthers did not add any running backs in the 2026 NFL Draft, leaving the oft-injured Jonathan Brooks and the unproven Trevor Etienne as Hubbard's primary competition. In dynasty formats, Hubbard's stock is rising following Carolina's offseason moves.

Carolina Panthers tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders can arguably be thrown into the category of 2026 offseason winners, but how that actually translates to his dynasty value remains to be seen. The Panthers were considered one of the most tight end-needy teams in the league, but in an NFL Draft that saw 21 tight ends come off the board, not one of them went to Carolina. Sanders led all Panthers tight ends with 29 receptions in 2025 and finished within 60 yards of Tommy Tremble despite missing five games with a high ankle sprain and later a broken ankle to end his season. All reports have him recovering well, and while calls are growing louder for a Jalen Coker breakout, there is still a serious lack of target competition behind 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Tetairoa McMillan. If Sanders can beat out Tremble and 2025 fifth-round pick Mitchell Evans as the team's primary pass-catcher at the position, there should be enough opportunity to make a modest fantasy impact. At RotoBaller's dynasty TE37, expectations are low, but if Sanders can take a step forward in year three, as used to be the norm before the recent tight end resurgence, he could be a low-cost add who offers usable depth moving forward.

A first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette has struggled to live up to his draft status through the first two years of his professional career. Across 15 games in 2025, the 25-year-old recorded 35 receptions for 363 yards and three touchdowns on 64 targets. Legette also lost playing time down the stretch of the season, lining up for 55% or fewer of his team's offensive snaps in their final three contests. While the Panthers don't have an overwhelming depth of talent in their wide receiver room, Legette enters 2026 behind both Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker on the pecking order for targets. Carolina also used a third-round pick on University of Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II in the 2026 NFL Draft, who could put pressure on Legette for the Panthers WR3 role. In dynasty formats, Legette's value is at an all-time low heading into his third NFL season.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker had the start of his 2025 season delayed by a quad injury, which caused him to miss the first six games of the year. Upon his return, the 24-year-old hauled in 33 receptions for 394 yards and three touchdowns on 43 targets across 11 games. The Panthers added some talent to their wide receiver room this offseason, drafting University of Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II in the third round of the 2026 Draft and signing former New York Jets wideout John Metchie III in free agency. Still, Coker appears set to open 2026 as the number two pass-catcher in Carolina alongside Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. If Coker can put together a fully healthy season, he could be in line for a breakout in his third NFL campaign. Coker's dynasty stock is rising entering 2026.

The Carolina Panthers officially picked up quarterback Bryce Young's fifth-year option for the 2027 season on Wednesday, according to Darin Gantt of the team's official website. It was a no-brainer move for the Panthers after Young set new career-highs in passing yards (3,011), touchdowns (23), completion percentage (63.6), and passer rating (87.8). He also had six of his 12 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in 2025, and his 12 comeback wins are the most of any QB in the NFL since 2023. While Young still shouldn't be viewed as a legitimate QB1 in fantasy football in 2026, he has proven in recent seasons that he is improving, and he was especially effective late in games and in close contests. The former first overall pick in 2023 is now under contract for the next two seasons in Carolina and has plenty of receiving weapons in Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, and rookie Chris Brazzell II to take another step forward as a passer in 2026. Young is a rising high-end QB2 in superflex and dynasty/keeper leagues.

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) said he's been fully cleared by his surgeon to take part in the team's offseason program and feels "close to 100 percent," according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Brooks is returning from a second ACL surgery on his right knee and could have a pretty decent role in the Panthers' backfield in 2026 behind Chuba Hubbard if he can stay healthy. The 22-year-old was a second-round selection in 2024 out of the University of Texas, but he has only played in three games and has had nine carries for 22 yards since being drafted by Carolina due to continued knee issues. Rico Dowdle departed in free agency to look for a bigger role elsewhere, which leaves Brooks to compete primarily with AJ Dillon for RB2 duties behind Hubbard. Brooks will most likely go undrafted in most single-year leagues later this year, but in dynasty/keeper formats, he might be a savvy buy-low candidate for RB depth.

The Carolina Panthers have selected University of Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II with the 83rd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4 pass catcher opened his collegiate career at Tulane before transferring to Tennessee. In 12 games last season, he caught 62 passes for 1,017 yards and an SEC-leading nine touchdowns. Brazzell was a vertical receiver who stretched the field at school, but he's capable of flashing versatility and occupying a variety of roles. That will fit nicely in a Carolina receiver room that already features Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, and Xavier Legette. Brazzell might not have fantasy relevance as soon as Week 1 in his rookie season, but there's plenty of long-term upside here. He ranks as the WR68 in RotoBaller's latest dynasty fantasy football rankings.

The Carolina Panthers selected University of Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft on Thursday night. The 21-year-old stands at an enormous 6-foot-7, 315 pounds, and he'll take the next step in his football career as a big body to help the Panthers up front in front of quarterback Bryce Young. The Panthers are taking a bit of a risk with this pick, just based on the fact that Freeling only started one season with the Bulldogs. Freeling's specific position in his first year in the NFL will depend largely on the health of Ikem Ekwonu (knee), who is recovering from a torn patellar tendon in his knee. If needed, the Panthers could plug Freeling on Young's blind side right away, which would put a lot of pressure on the young offensive tackle. What Freeling lacks in experience, he can easily make up for with elite athleticism for his hulking size. He has the potential to be a franchise-changing left tackle.

The Athletic's Joseph Person writes that Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq has "been increasingly linked" to the Carolina Panthers in mock drafts with the 2026 NFL draft quickly approaching on Thursday night. The Panthers hold the 19th overall pick in the first round. Sadiq, who is a freakish athlete at his position, has gone in the top 15 picks in a couple of recent mock drafts by The Athletic, so he could be off the board by the time the Panthers are on the clock (assuming they don't trade up). Some in the Panthers organization don't think TE is as big of a need as some outsiders do, especially with how head coach Dave Canales has used the position in his first two seasons with the team. In his final collegiate season with the Ducks, Sadiq had 51 catches for 560 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 games played. Wherever he lands, he's going to be a pricey acquisition in rookie-only drafts in keeper leagues later this year. In Carolina, Sadiq could immediately become the TE1 because of his athleticism and elite speed at the position.

Carolina Panthers second-year wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan said that he dropped 10 to 15 pounds during his rookie season in 2025 and got down to around 205 pounds, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. As a result, McMillan spent the offseason working on his "power" and weight/muscle gain. The 23-year-old former eighth overall pick out of the University of Arizona was named the Offensive Rookie of the Year after catching 70 of his 122 targets for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 starts in his first year in the league. McMillan immediately became quarterback Bryce Young's go-to target in the passing game, and his arrow is firmly pointing upward in dynasty/keeper leagues as he heads into Year 2. He should grow in offensive coordinator Brad Idzik's scheme in his second season after finishing last year as the WR15 in half-PPR scoring. In redraft leagues this fall, fantasy managers should consider McMillan a low-end WR1/high-end WR2.

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) missed the entirety of the 2025 season after tearing his ACL for the second time on the ninth carry of his NFL career. Brooks went down in Week 14 of his 2024 rookie season after missing ten games during a lengthy recovery from his first ACL tear, sustained at the end of his final collegiate season at Texas. With the injuries stacking up and so much passing time between meaningful snaps, it can be easy to forget that the 2024 second-round pick was seeing an incremental increase in usage leading up to the injury, even though Chuba Hubbard had the fourth most rushing yards in the league to that point. With Rico Dowdle departing in free agency after only one season in Carolina, Brooks will return to a running back room strikingly similar to the one in which he last played. Hubbard will be 27 years old at the start of the season, coming off a year in which injuries and inefficiency saw him turn the room over to Dowdle for much of the season, and his career yards per route run remains well under 1.0 yards. As RotoBaller's dynasty RB37, Brooks could be severely underpriced for a running back with both the skills and the path to take over the lead back role in a steadily improving offense.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan finished his first professional season as the fantasy WR15 on his way to being named Offensive Rookie of the Year, and his arrow is realistically still pointing up. While it took him six weeks to score his first NFL touchdown, with only two receiving touchdowns through Week 10, he eventually found a knack for it, scoring five times over his final seven games. McMillan led the Panthers with a 26.3% target share, with an even more impressive 32.4% share of all first-down targets. While he could benefit from an improvement to the quality of targets, it's unlikely that anyone currently on the roster poses a serious threat to eat into his workload in year two. The Panthers have spent their last two first-round picks on the wide receiver position, and even with general manager Dan Morgan recently insinuating a third straight swing would not be out of the question, it seems improbable with several more glaring needs on the defensive side of the ball. McMillan is RotoBaller's WR9 in dynasty rankings, and he could be one of the safest young assets to build around.

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard opened the 2025 season as his team's RB1. However, an early-season calf injury forced Hubbard to the sidelines and opened the door for Rico Dowdle to emerge as Carolina's new feature back. While Hubbard worked his way back into a more even playing time split down the stretch of the season, he finished the year with just 734 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns on 164 touches. Luckily for Hubbard, Dowdle signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency, reopening the door for Hubbard to get his starting role back. The 26-year-old Hubbard is just one year removed from his breakout 2024 campaign with Carolina, when he racked up 1,366 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns on 293 touches. Hubbard's dynasty value is firmly trending upwards heading into 2026.

Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said he's optimistic about tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle) and said that he looks good after he had ankle surgery, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Sanders has been running and cutting and looks good during his rehab. The 23-year-old had season-ending surgery in late December to fix a broken right fibula. Sanders has been recovering nicely, though, and he could be ready for organized team activities in May. In his second NFL season in 13 before his ankle injury, the former fourth-rounder out of the University of Texas in 2024 had 29 catches for 190 yards and only one touchdown on 34 targets over 13 games played (five starts). Sanders had 33 receptions (43 targets) for 342 yards and a score in 16 games in his rookie campaign in 2024. With Tommy Tremble set to be the team's top TE in 2026, Sanders can be ignored in most 12-team fantasy football leagues.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker is one of the biggest risers this offseason, offering WR3/flex appeal for deeper fantasy leagues in 2026. The 24-year-old missed the first six games of last season but quickly took on a substantial role upon his return. After a reduced role in his first game back, he played at least 66% of the offensive snaps in each of his remaining 10 contests. He supplanted Xavier Legette as the Panthers' No. 2 receiver behind Tetairoa McMillan. Taking on a bigger offensive workload, he averaged 3.7 catches, 46.9 yards, and 0.4 touchdowns per game from Week 11 through Week 18. Coker ranked as the WR26 in PPR leagues during that span, and he kept his momentum going into the playoffs, where he caught nine passes for 134 yards and one touchdown in the Panthers' Wild Card loss. He ranks 173rd overall in RotoBaller's early redraft rankings for 2026, making him a projected 12th-round pick in 12-team leagues. He also ranks as the WR61 in the latest dynasty rankings, but he has top-36 upside and is an intriguing low-cost target in dynasty trades this offseason.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young entered the league with all the expectations of a No. 1 overall pick, but through his first three seasons, consistency has evaded him. Carolina has exercised the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, giving the team two more years of affordable control and Young an additional chance to prove he's worthy of a massive pay raise. After a lackluster rookie campaign, Young was able to overcome a second-season benching in 2024, and with an improved surrounding cast, namely Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan, he put up his best statistical season to date in 2025, finishing year three with 3,011 yards and 23 touchdowns on a 63.6% completion rate, all career highs. Unfortunately, that increased production, modest as it was, still came with fits and starts. Young topped 200 passing yards only once through the first 10 weeks before throwing for a career high 448 yards in a Week 11 win over the Falcons. He then went on to average 175 yards per game the rest of the way, including a brutal 54-yard outing in fantasy championship week. Carolina will likely look to add more offensive firepower through the upcoming NFL Draft, and Young did establish a late-season rapport with his big-bodied slot receiver Jalen Coker, so the pieces could be in place for yet another step forward. Unfortunately, until he's shown he can regularly string together week-winning performances, he profiles as little more than a QB3 in superflex dynasty leagues.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette has not lived up to his hype as a first-round pick, and he could continue to trend in the wrong direction for fantasy football in 2026. Legette has ranked outside the top 60 fantasy receivers in each of his two NFL seasons. Last year, he ranked as the WR71 with 35 catches, 363 yards, and three touchdowns. He missed two games, so even if you extrapolate his stats over a full 17-game season, it was still a putrid year for the 25-year-old. Outside of his first-round capital, Legette doesn't have much working in his favor. Most notably, he sits behind both Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker on the depth chart. It'll be tough for him to carve out consistent volume as the No. 3 receiver in a balanced offense like Carolina's. Outside of an injury to McMillan or Coker, we don't envision a path to meaningful fantasy production for Legette next year. He can be dropped in most dynasty formats or stashed on the bench in the deepest of leagues.

Carolina Panthers tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders has struggled to emerge as a relevant fantasy option through his first two seasons in the NFL. He showed some upside near the end of his rookie campaign in 2024, but he has yet to finish higher than TE36 in PPR leagues. It's not for a lack of talent, as Sanders was an early fourth-round pick and has flashed impressive receiving skills. However, Carolina's offense doesn't seem to prioritize getting the ball to its tight ends. In fact, we haven't really seen the Panthers have a legitimate fantasy threat at tight end since Greg Olsen in 2016. It's unlikely that will change next season, but there is hope. Head coach Dave Canales recently turned offensive play-calling duties over to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, so perhaps that will lead to more tight end targets for Sanders. Still, we wouldn't bet on an immediate breakout for the 23-year-old. Rostering Sanders will require patience, and he's more of a hold than a buy or sell in dynasty leagues at the moment.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who was the 2025 SEC Offensive Player of the Year, is visiting with the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday, a source told Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. The 24-year-old Pavia led Vandy to its first win over a top-five team last year in school history. The Panthers already have Bryce Young locked into the starting role in Carolina and Kenny Pickett backing him up, so Pavia would be the QB3 in Carolina if he were drafted by the organization in 2026. Pavia led the SEC in completion percentage (70.6%), touchdown passes (29), yards per attempt (9.4), adjusted yards per attempt (9.94), and passing efficiency rating (170.4) in 13 games while throwing for a career-high 3,539 yards and eight interceptions in 13 games played. He's a gritty and tenacious QB prospect who thrives on being labeled an underdog. If he were to land in Carolina, he could push Pickett for the backup job behind Young in his first year in the NFL.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales said that he expects running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) to be ready for organized team activities and minicamp, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Brooks is a major question mark in dynasty/keeper leagues after tearing his right ACL for the second time last year. The 22-year-old got a late start to his rookie campaign in 2024 in Carolina after rehabbing his first torn ACL from college, and he only saw nine carries for 22 yards in three games before tearing his ACL again. He missed all of the 2025 campaign, but he's now ramping up to help the Panthers' backfield in 2026, potentially. And with Rico Dowdle leaving in free agency to join the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brooks could have a clear path to RB2 duties in Carolina this coming season behind Chuba Hubbard if he can stay on the field. If fully healthy, Brooks will compete with both Trevor Etienne and AJ Dillon for complementary work behind Hubbard in 2026.