Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! The Panthers let us down on prime time, a tradition almost as old as Thanksgiving. You asked questions, and I got answers for you. We’ll dive right in, and join us during next week’s Ask Brian column to have more of your fan questions answered!
Schammgod: Why do the NFL refs and God hate the Panthers??? But in actuality, do you think the Panthers should pick up Bryce’s 5th year option and grab a late round QB in the draft to develop? Thanks!
The Panthers released Cam Newton, we are paying for it every day.
I still am of the mindset that the Panthers probably should grab Bryce Young’s 5th year option (yeah yeah boo me all you want) while they try to figure out their whole QB situation. I’m not sure if they’ll get a ready heir apparent this off-season, though I think they should sign and draft at least one QB for competition/development purposes. But it isn’t often you stumble upon a franchise quarterback in free agency (unless they are leaving the Panthers of course) and I don’t expect Carolina to go after a first round guy this next Offseason, so knowing they’ll at least have Bryce under a contract and can be traded going into 2027 wouldn’t be the worst scenario. I reserve the right to update my opinion on this pending whatever else could possibly happen in 2025, since this season has been a rollercoaster.
CasualFanAlso: A lot of fans have expressed “enough of BY” sentiments. Realistically, what if any options are there to Young at this point in the season?
There’s really not a lot of other options now. Any QB who isn’t on a roster now isn’t going to come in and magically pick up the playbook and have the Panthers playoff contending in week 13. I know many have clamored for Mike White to get some starts in, but barring an injury I do not expect the Panthers to move from Bryce Young, aside from if they end up being completely out of playoff contention. They definitely should have done more at the quarterback position in the off-season rather than sticking with Andy Dalton as the backup. But yeah, I’m not expecting a voluntary change from Bryce Young at the moment.
SwampPanther: Q: What happened to Icky Monday night, uncharacteristically bad performance.
Ikem Ekwonu is never going to be an elite pass protector, so when the team doesn’t commit to running the football, I think we can expect some difficult games for him. Not to say he isn’t a good left tackle, he’s been one of the more consistent linemen they have. Good players do have bad games.
Revshawn: Is there a shot that Isaiah Simmons can get coached up? Or is it too little too late?
He’ll be hanging out with his Clemson buddy Hunter Renfrow on the healthy scratch list.
Joking aside, I like taking a chance on Simmons as a former first round pick, and I think Ejiro Evero might deploy him in a similar fashion to Tre’Von Moehrig, which would suit his skillset. I wouldn’t have expectations, because you don’t typically sign starter caliber players in week 13 of the season, but stranger things have happened and the Panthers could use an injection of some talent. Really just depends on how Evero plans to use him, if at all.
@WTMealey: Rank in order of best to worst position group, DBs or break into sub groups, ILB, Edge, Dline
Who has earned an extension or should we retain? I feel we’ve got youth established vets and some “rentals”
Related when do we offer Evero another contract?
I’d probably go with interior linebacker as the worst position group. Ejiro Evero has done well with what he’s had, but the group is super thin as evidenced by playing essentially two practice squad level guys on Monday Night Football due to injuries. I like what they’ve gotten out of Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom when healthy, but I think they can be improved upon and at the very least you can add some depth.
The Panthers don’t have a ton of pending free agents on the defensive side, DJ Wonnum is set to be one but at this point he can probably go. Christian Rozeboom will also be one but I would expect him to be re-signed at a decent price. The rest of their guys are free agents and most of the young ones have
exclusive rights or restricted free agent tags.
I would hope the Panthers offer Evero a new contract this off-season, I don’t know if I expect them to do that during the season. I don’t expect any wholesale coaching changes or the firing of Dave Canales, so that all then boils down to the offseason. I’m not of the mindset that any of the coaches need to change as of yet. Ask me again at the conclusion of the season. But Evero should be a priority in my opinion, there’s really no reason to turn the defense upside down with the job they’ve done this year as they’ve rebuilt it over the last several.
Aggressively_avg2: I was trying to find what QB’s stats through their first three years Bryce most mirrored. So I did some digging:
Is Bryce Young pretty much just Christian Ponder?
Actually not a bad comp at all. I’d like to think from a leadership and mental standpoint Bryce Young is a lot more. But after last week, I understand why fans are down on him completely. Guess we’ll see what happens against a very good Rams team this week.
KeepPounding88: There are plenty of ways we can replace Bryce or at the very least find competition for him this offseason, but all of our options seem to be serviceable at best. Whether it’s this year or 5 years down the line, how do you see us getting our next franchise QB?
I think you draft a quarterback as high as you can stomach and ride it out with Bryce Young in 2026. You probably sign a veteran option or somebody with upside to push him for competition as well. I think the best route is going to be developing someone on the bench rather than throwing them right into the fire, unless its a Russell Wilson type situation where they show they are pretty much immediately the best option. Bryce Young might have benefited from a year on the bench, but here we are.
schrodingersblackcat: Do you think Evero wants to stay in Carolina and continue building this defense in his image?
I linked your whole comment so people can see your follow up thoughts, and I mostly agree with them. Unless Ejiro Evero goes to a head coaching opportunity, it would make sense for him to stay in Carolina. I think to most outside observers, what he’s done with Carolina’s defense this season has been pretty impressive, so I don’t see him going elsewhere simply to get away from the Panthers and improve his image. I think another season implementing what he wants to do and getting the personnel he wants to have would make sense for both sides. But unfortunately, since he’s not under contract, that’s all entirely up in the air for next season. But I think it would behoove Dave Canales and GM Dan Morgan to not have to upheave the defense and implement a new scheme on that front in the off-season. Focusing on the QB plan and continuing to add talent across the board should be the priority, and bringing Evero back and letting him do his thing is one less thing they need to spend time and resources on.
Pantherblueblood: How long do you think Jacksonville will keep Lawrence around. If we get him to the QB whisperer maybe we could make something out the fellow.
I don’t see the Jaguars moving on from Trevor Lawrence this offseason, they are competitive enough and very much in the playoff race. They’d also take on a hefty
dead cap hit, so a trade in 2026 would have to be both creative and highly beneficial to them to even consider it. Solid idea though.
Ruffian Actual: 1. Baked or deep-fried?
2. Tryptophan or just food/carb overload?
3. Stuffing or dressing?
4. Lunch, dinner, or mid-afternoon?
5. Tree up day after or in December?
6. Least favorite side that always manages to show up?
We’ll cap it off with the Thanksgiving themed question. Thank you, I always appreciate getting to address my food takes.
- I’m a fan of classic baked, but deep-fried is a lot better than I think people give credit to.
- Food overload, its tradition. No PEDs.
- STUFFING. IT GETS STUFFED!
- I’m a mid afternoon guy, though that’s partly because I worked in retail and we’d be preparing for work at dinner time. Don’t miss those 12 hour Black Friday shifts.
- My tradition is to print a picture of a Christmas tree and pin it to the wall. So preparing for that 2 minutes of work doesn’t take a lot of time.
- Used to be cranberry sauce, but I’ve come around on that over time. I’d say sweet potatoes. I know people love them but just never been a fan. I know those two work hand in hand, so the cranberry sauce helps now.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans. Surely the Panthers won’t drastically change our expectations AGAIN this week? Stay tuned, and KEEP POUNDING!
