7/29/2023: The NFL hosted Back Together Saturday. This marks that football is back. Fans who would not usually be able to watch the Panthers practice could watch it on the NFL Network or NFL+. Fans were able to see the offense for the 2023 Carolina Panthers and let's just say fans' optimism is through the roof. This is a nice change of pace from where Carolina was this past NFL season. Let's take a look at how much things have changed in terms of offensive players.
QB: ???? —> Bryce Young
Anyone who followed the 2022 Panthers last season knows about the plethora of quarterbacks the Panthers went through—very similar to the San Fransico 49ers last season. The Panthers in the 2022 pre-season started with Matt Corral, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and PJ Walker. All of them were hurt at some point during the season. It was so bad that Carolina had to start their 5th quarterback of the season, Jacob Eason.
It was a carousel of pain from watching the Panthers flip through QB-like pages in a book. After the season, The Panthers traded from the ninth overall pick to the first overall pick. It only cost our best wide receiver. But we drafted our franchise guy in former Alabama Quarterback Bryce Young. The training camp footage that was shown of Young looks very promising for the future.
WR: DJ Moore, Chosen Anderson —> DJ Chark, Adam Thielen, and Johnathan Mingo
Like the quarterback position, the wide receiver position went through tremendous turmoil. During the 2022 season, DJ Moore was the premier wide receiver for the Panthers, with Terrace Marshall Jr and Laviska Shenault Jr approaching the season later. TMJ and LSJ are expected to make considerable strides in this upcoming season.
D.J Moore was sent off to Chicago in a trade for the first overall pick, where they drafted Bryce Young. Moore's replacement Carolina signed DJ Chark from the Detroit Lions and Adam Thielen from the Minnesota Vikings and drafted Johnathan Mingo in the 2nd round of the 2023 NFL draft. It will be challenging to replicate Moore's production, but Carolina can spread out the ball, which gives Young plenty of options.
Chosen Anderson was with the Panthers at the beginning of the season. Then he yelled his way out of Charlotte to the Arizona Cardinals. As of right now, Anderson is a member of the Miami Dolphins.
TE: Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble —> Same Duo Plus Hayden Hurst
In the 2022 season, the Panthers were rolling with Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble as their premier tight ends. In 2023, Carolina seems to be rolling with the same group (The official roster hasn't been announced yet) with the addition of Hayden Hurst, who has been a stud and a pivotal piece to the Cincinnati Bengals playoff run this past season.
RB: Christian McCaffery —> Miles Sanders
The most significant loss besides DJ Moore was CMC for the Panthers. It was a sad day when it was announced that CMC was being traded to the San Fransico 49ers. Since then, CMC has been a staple in the 49ers' offense and was crucial to their playoff run. To "replace" CMC (Let's be honest, you cannot replace CMC. He's a generational talent)
Carolina signed former Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles Sanders, who came off a 1,000+ yard season and was a huge reason the Eagles went on their Super Bowl run this past season. Sanders will be huge for Young (a rookie QB). Having a running back like Sanders can ease the stress of being a rookie QB.
O-Line: Relatively the Same
The Panthers O-Line remained relatively the same from this past season, besides Center Pat Elfien going to the Arizona Cardinals. The Panthers did need Elifin (for depth, it would have been nice to keep him) because they have Bradley Bozeman.
This is how the Carolina Panthers offense has changed from the 2022 season to Now. A big reason these changes happened was a coaching change from Matt Rhule (What a time, I swear) to Frank Reich (Finally someone who knows what they are doing). The upcoming 2023 season will be an exciting season for the future of the franchise as a whole and will be very exciting to see.