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Carolina is acting like a playoff team despite being anything but.
There’s little doubt the value of preseason football has been vastly diminished in recent years. Teams are more cagey than ever about showing their offensive and defensive tendencies on film for opponents — with joint practices becoming the league’s de facto method for actually installing schemes. Despite these changes, it’s bizarre to see a team punt on the entire preseason program, but the Carolina Panthers are doing just that.
For the second straight week the Panthers rested all their critical starters against the Jets in their preseason game. This came after first-year head coach Dave Canales rested his starters in Week 1 of preseason against the Patriots. While the majority of the league is using this time to give their first team at least some live-fire reps, Canales and the Panthers are moving forward playing their depth, as if they’re a lock playoff team with no need to evaluate its roster.
It’s tempting to get lost in the idea this is hubris, and while it certainly doesn’t offer much in the way of anticipation or excitement for fans, there are a few factors to consider before entirely diving into the deep end of rookie coach naivety.
The Panthers have had a really good training camp
It’s understandable that there hasn’t been much attention on the Panthers at a national level. They weren’t just the worst team in the NFL a year ago, but didn’t have a top-3 pick to watch in camp. As a result they were largely ignored, which the team has more or less used to its advantage.
Bryce Young had more good days than bad as Carolina installed Canales’ new-look offense, more or less the same scheme that allowed Baker Mayfield to soar in Tampa Bay a year ago — and while there were incremental improvements, it wasn’t until the joint practice sessions with the Jets that Carolina began to uncork its true offense.
The results were stunning. Even without Diontae Johnson or Xavier Legette, both of whom were sidelined with minor injuries, Bryce was on-point against the Jets 1st team defense, connecting on two touchdown passes without turning the ball over, and showing on a new arsenal of passes he didn’t have a chance to throw in 2023.
This was a practice that should have been ugly for Carolina. Boasting one of the league’s worst offenses against a top-tier defense should have led to numerous ugly plays and forgettable moments. However, the was Young and Co. thrived showed that there might really be something here since Canales’ arrival.
Which leads us to …
The shock factor
Everyone in the NFL is trying to hide their true intentions right now. It’s for this reason you’ll often hear preseason offenses referred to as “vanilla,” using only the most basic concepts without any of the sizzle.
From what we know about Canales he’s a confidence, vibes-based coach who’s not entirely dissimilar in demeanor to Mike McDaniel of the Dolphins. To this end there’s value in keeping his starters under wraps until Week 1 of the regular season, especially considering there’s a need to get off to a hot start.
The Panthers open their 2024 season against the Saints, Chargers, and Raiders. Three teams the Panthers should be able to compete against. It’s not until Week 4 vs. Cincinnati that Carolina sees an opponent they shouldn’t have a chance against.
This means there’s a definite line of logic that dictates the Panthers keep as much hidden as possible, only revealing their true starting offense when the games matter. If practice has been going well and the coaching staff feels there’s little they can learn by “going vanilla,” then this could actually work.
The Panthers’ depth is a nightmare
If you look at Carolina’s depth chart it’s actually not a total mess — until you get to the second unit and beyond. Years of bad back-end drafting has left the depth in tatters, and there’s no room for the Panthers to lose a key starter or two before the regular season.
The only position the Panthers could arguably lose a player without missing too much is safety, where they have more talent than they know what to do with. Outside of that this team is a house of cards trying to avoid a stuff breeze.
So, once again, if the Panthers coaching staff is confident in the team then there’s nothing they can garner from preseason.
Despite the reasons these decisions make sense, it’s still unconventional
There are obvious excuses we can make for the Panthers sitting their starters in preseason, but that doesn’t stop it being really odd for a bad team to be doing this. Live snaps are still live snaps, and it could leave the team unprepared for the regular season.
It’s a bold approach by Canales that could either result in a healthy Panthers stunning the NFL world and making an impact right away, or sucking out loud and finding themselves in a hole.
As it stands Bryce Young is being treated like a top quarterback who doesn’t need his reps. We’ll see if this belief is warranted when Week 1 rolls around.
