Carolina Panthers Record Prediction for 2023 – Pro Football Mania

This past offseason the Carolina Panthers went all in on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. They traded away two 1st round picks, two 2nd round picks and star receiver D.J. Moore to the Chicago Bears. Overall it’s a lot of assets to give up but if new head coach Frank Reich is right about Young it won’t matter down the road. The Panthers have the ingredients in place to compete in a weak NFC South. Can they win the division next season? Find out below as we offer a record prediction for the 2023-2024 season.

The Good

One of the biggest reasons Frank Reich failed in Indianapolis was due to the quarterback position. Reich had to deal with Andrew Luck‘s early retirement along with mediocre quarterback play from players past their prime. It all came crashing down last year when the Matt Ryan experiment failed miserably and Reich was let go. It’s important to look past that as Reich has shown he can run a successful NFL offense. Expect Reich to get back to his roots in Carolina and that includes the triangle read passing game along with the zone run game.

The Panthers have a lot of new faces on the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball. One of those pieces is former Philadelphia Eagles running back Miles Sanders. Sanders signed a 4-year, $25 million dollar contract with the Panthers this offseason. He is now in a perfect system and I expect him to excel as the Panthers #1 back. Sanders is coming off a Pro Bowl season in Philadelphia in which he amassed 1,347 total yards from scrimmage. Expect Sanders to be a workhorse early on as Young gets accustomed to the speed of the NFL.

The Bad

In order for the Panthers to pull off a trade for the #1 pick they needed to part ways with D.J. Moore. Moore has been a franchise player for Carolina since he was drafted in 2018. Now the Panthers have a giant hole on offense that is likely to hurt them this year.

They did attempt to address this by bringing in Adam Thielen this offseason on a 3-year deal. Thielen has shown he can be an excellent wide receiver but I don’t like him in the #1 role. He is better suited for a number 2 role similar to his position in Minnesota. The wide receiver group for the Panthers will be their weak spot going into next season. The hope is that they can get immediate results from rookie Jonathan Mingo but I expect him to take his rookie lumps.

The Prediction

In any other division, the Panthers would likely be an under .500 team. Thanks to the weak NFC South they will finish their first season under Frank Reich with a winning record. Bryce Young will take some time to learn the pro game but things should start clicking from him mid-season. The future is bright for the Panthers and expect them to be competitive for years to come.

2023 Record: 9-8 (2nd in the division)