In 2023, the Carolina Panthers finally hit rock bottom. After years of mismanagement, they finished the season with a 2-15 record—worse than any other team in the NFL.
It’s taken a lot of work adding new pieces and a lot of improvement from the remaining players who were around for that campaign. But now, fresh off their first division title in a decade, the Panthers are looking a lot better these days than they were three years ago.
Unfortunately, when you’re in a hole as deep as Carolina was, even a massive improvement only gets you up to near the bottom of the league.
That dynamic is clearly illustrated in the new offensive triplet rankings from Jared Dubin at CBS Sports. He puts the Panthers’ combination of quarterback (Bryce Young), running back (Chuba Hubbard) and wide receiver (Tetairoa McMillan) at 28th in the league going into 2026.
Dubin writes:
The Panthers moved up just one spot despite Young showing some improvement and McMillan putting together a very good debut season (70 catches for 1,014 yards and 7 touchdowns). This ranking doesn’t show much faith in Young to take the next step as a passer, and that’s probably what’s dragging Carolina down, in addition to Hubbard being largely uninspiring in the backfield. He was overtaken by the since-departed Rico Dowdle for much of last season and has the lead role in the backfield again by default unless Jonathon Brooks can take it from him.
As Dubin notes, Brooks may be in line to take over the backfield from Hubbard at some point this season. Hubbard, after a career campaign in 2024, struggled through a calf injury in 2025—which, in part, limited him to 511 yards and one touchdown on 134 carries.
McMillan inspires hope for the future at wideout. He became the first Panthers player since Cam Newton (2011) to capture Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
At quarterback, Young has taken great strides since his dismal rookie year—but he still has a long way to go before he lives up to his status as a No. 1 overall pick. Given what he has to work with, Young needs to elevate his skill group, and he’s just not there yet.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers’ ‘triplets’ ranked among NFL’s 5 worst going into 2026
