INSIDE LOOK: Carolina Panthers Offense IMPROVES—Bryce Young’s Breakout & Darren Waller’s Impact

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1:10How well has the Panthers' offense performed through the first four weeks of the season? I'll tell you right here on Lockdown Panthers. You are Lockdown Panthers, your daily Carolina Panthers podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome into another edition of the Lockdown Panthers podcast. I'm your host, as always, Julian, Council. And today's episode of Lockdown Panthers is brought to you by Kowshi for a limited time. Download Kowshi in Use Code Lockdown and get $25 when you trade $25. Kowshi trade what's next on today's episode of Lockdown Panthers. And sorry, I'm getting this out a lot later than I typically do for y'all had ACC tip off for locked on ACC over the last couple of days didn't feel like after a full day

2:11of interviewing coaches and players from the ACC coming on afterwards and doing a show. But that's okay. I've got three shows for y'all for the rest of the week today's show tomorrow's show. And then a special episode of the podcast on Friday afternoon with a dear listener who is actually having an amazing journey that I want to talk about and have them on the podcast. So stay tuned for that later on Friday afternoon. But today we're going to do a quarter poll review for the Panthers offense. We'll also do it tomorrow for the Panthers defense. And the way I want to do this is by giving you three observations, asking two questions and then providing all with one prediction, something that I see Austin Price of all quests do every single week throughout the Tennessee football season. I'm not a UT fan at all. And yes, the real UT is a Knoxville Tennessee, not in Austin, Texas. I'm a sicko, love college football, read all quest, even though I kind of hate. No, I don't kind of do hate Tennessee, but I am very interested by the writing that they

3:11have on that website. So I'm stealing what Austin does every week on today's episode and tomorrow's episode to help review the first four games of the Panther season for the offense and the defense. Let's start off with my three observations observation. Number one, Brad Idzick is doing a hell of a job as the Panthers offensive play, call it through the first four games of the season. Currently, the Panthers ranked seventh in scoring offense when looking only at offensive point score. Sorry, I'm not counting to pick six that Devon Lloyd got against Atlanta. So there's seventh and scoring offense. They're fourth and total offense, meaning total yardage offensively. They're fifth in yards per play. They're ninth in EPA per play, expected points added. They're 19th though and success rate, but then six and explosive play percentage, which are plays on the ground of 12 plus yards and through the air of 16 plus shards. They've been awesome. They top 10 often so far this season and when you juxtapose that with last year through

4:13the first four games of the season, they're 24th. Sorry, 27th is going off and 24th in total off and 27th in yards per play, 26th in EPA per play. They were 10th though in success rate and in 29th in explosive play percentage. So he's top 10 in all those categories. They weren't a year ago, except for success rate where they were 10th last year and now 19th this year again, success rate basically is, are you staying on schedule? So on first down, if you're going to run the ball through the ball, are you getting 50% over the yardage? Same thing on second down, then on third down, fourth down, are you converting to move the sticks to pay a thres have not done the best job on the ground of success rate? And they've been a lot of it too hard headed early on this season, trying to get the running game going on first and second down. But Bryce Young has been so good that it has not really mattered that they've been behind the sticks when it comes to the run game at points of times this season. Speaking of Bryce Young observation number two, Bryce Young is off to the best start of his career here in Carolina, which is a big fat duh.

5:16Right now he's leading the NFL in passing yards. He's first in passing first down. He has tied third with nine passing touchdowns. He's seventh in yards per attempt. Sixth in EPA per drop back 10th in success rate 10th in explosive pass percentage, which again, past plays of 16 plus yards. He's 11th in pass or rating the only thing Bryce has not done so far this season that we've become accustomed to is lead the Panthers on a game winning drive in a fourth quarter comeback. Now he did lead multiple fourth quarter comebacks as they took the lead. I believe was 1210 over the Browns and later on through a touchdown pass to his college roommate and not roommate but former teammate. Maybe there were roommates. I don't know about former college teammates on Mechie to take the lead. And we know what happened after that as far as defensively not getting a stop. But then the offense going back out there not doing anything defensively getting a stop and Todd Munkin erroneously decided to not kick the field goal, but instead went for it and got stones. So credit to the Panthers defense for that. I am not looking at Bryce Chung and that Cleveland game at the end in placing any sort of

6:21blame on him when he was under pressure on 56% of his dropbacks on that Sunday afternoon up in Cleveland. But he has been phenomenal. So far this season I answered a mail back question about Bryce and whether the Panthers have now opened up their win now Super Bowl window and I told that listener, look Bryce has been great so far this season, but it's been four games and I don't want to necessarily crown him after four games. Now I have said it looks like they found their franchise quarterback after you saw what he did in second half of 2024, 25 and now the way you started off season so far hard to argue that he's not going to be the guy moving forward with those numbers with the histories had with this coaching staff, this general manager so far this owner and looking at the other options. Where are they? So yeah, he's going to be the guy moving forward as long as everything continues in this direction, but I don't want to make any grandplochemations about Bryce Chung being an MVP candidate, MVP candidate being a tier one quarterback until I see him put together a full season

7:24like this. Compared his numbers so far this season to what he done in the past with E pay for dropback and also success rate and then compare those to Josh Allen who yes is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now and moving forward. He was atrocious his first two years did that third season in 2020. He took off and he was first in the paper drop back. He was third in success rate. If Bryce Chung continues on this trajectory, it's not going to be necessarily apples to apples to Josh Allen because everybody situations are different, but that's the kind of year three ascension that we're looking in. I say year three because year one, Fubar, the whole situation with the lack of a run game, lack of playmakers on the outside that weren't name Adam feeling it being one week Frank right the next week Thomas Brown, then Frank right and Thomas Brown again. I don't see how that was ever conducive for Bryce or hell if they got CJ Stroud to have success at quarterback that season, but so far when you look at just his first four games this season, his E pay for dropback is a point two two.

8:24Sometimes it's ever been positive for the first four weeks of the season for Carolina. Seven point eight yards per attempt. Look at the last three seasons for Bryce through four weeks last year. He had a negative point one two, E pay for dropback and only had five point two yards per attempt. 2024 of course he was benched after the first two games of the season had a negative point four four E pay for dropback and four point four yards per attempt in 2023. A negative point two six E pay for dropback and four point nine yards per attempt. He has blown those numbers out of the water through the first four games of the season here in Carolina and I'm so damn happy for that guy for all these went through and help. What I even said say it's over for Bryce is based off of how we performed against New Orleans and against the chargers opening up that season and Dave Canal is in my opinion pulling the plug on the Bryce Chung experiment here in Carolina after only two games and boy was I wrong and I'm glad I am because this great guy and he's playing hell with football right now and it's exactly what Carolina needed out of the quarterback position going into

9:28the season observation number three. The tight in room has stepped up. I was still very skeptical of the Panthers tight ends even when they signed Darren Waller. He's somebody who had retired at set up a full season. In the last year, he joined the dolphins look great in the game that he played here in Carolina, but was still banged up but have pretty nice numbers really nice numbers. Actually, when he was available, but I just question whether that was going to have the kind of impact that a lot of Panther fans were hoping that he would have and also of course the organization was hoping that he would have and so far, he's lived up to that with 13 or 1748 yards and two touchdowns so far the season, but it's not just him. Tommy Trimble 11 receptions 82 yards Mitchell 11 six receptions for 66 yards. Neither one of those are that impressive so far. I understand that, but collectively Panthers tight ends have 30 receptions 296 yards and two touchdowns that is fourth in receptions among tight ends in the NFL and sixth in receiving

10:32yards among tight ends in the NFL versus last year, which is very interesting. Last year through four weeks, the Panthers tight ends had 29 receptions, so they have one more than they did at this point last season and had 230 yards and two touchdowns. So one more reception 66 yards more and the same amount of touchdowns that they had through four weeks a year ago where they were ranked fourth in receptions, which is the case right now and 10th in receiving yards among tight ends at this point last season. Now the problem is and was that the Panthers tight ends and proceeded to only catch 20 more passes for 178 yards and one touchdown the rest of the year. I don't see that kind of drop off happening as long as Darren Waller stays involved in this offense and healthy as long as Tommy Trimble is healthy and has his role in this offense. And as long as Mitchell 11 stays healthy and continues to grow in his second year in this offense here in Carolina. I've been impressed by the tight end room, but they were around this point last season.

11:36Need to see that continue throughout the rest of the year here offensively for the Panthers. So those are my three observations, but I have two important questions moving for the Panthers offense. We'll talk about those here in just a moment on Locked On Panthers. A new football season brings some big questions who makes the playoffs who wins their division who takes home the title. CalShi America's number one prediction market platform lets you trade those predictions in a live market. Bryce Young is currently trading at 14% to take home the NFL passing title. A $100 trade would pay out $674.55 if he were to end the season as the passing leader on CalShi. Your trading is peers in a live market meeting. There's no house and as a probability changes you can buy in and out of your position trade the draft pick the game and more on CalShi down low CalShi use code locked on to get $25 when you trade $25 KAL S H I CalShi trade what's next 18 over only restrictions

12:36L's will require supply event contract trading involves risk may not be suitable for all investors CalShi products are not available and all jurisdictions prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see CalShi.com slash regulatory. The NFL is full of games you plan for all year but sometimes the best memories come from the games you almost miss game time makes it easy to find tickets to the NFL matchup you want to see with prices that include fees so you know your total cost upfront you can browse games see a panoramic view from your seat before you buy and get tickets in just a couple of taps plus zone deals let you choose the section and let game time choose the seats to help save even more whether it's a rivalry game a matchup featuring a player you must see in person or an underdog ready to make some noise game time makes getting to the game simple think about the game on the schedule that you absolutely don't want to miss there are certain games were watching on TV just isn't the same a rivalry game of everything on the line a pack stadium that atmosphere those are the games worth finding a way to be there for a game time makes it easy to find those tickets get your friends together get your tickets and tell them it's game time download the game time app print

13:39account and use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again grand account use code locked on 20 for $20 dollars off. Take in a look at the Panthers offense at the quarter pole of this 2026 regular season for your Carolina Panthers two and two and this week five by week headed to Philadelphia next week and week six to questions I have for the Panthers offense moving forward question number one win exactly our Taylor mountain and a key corner going to be back out there on the field at right tackle and left tackle respectively because so far it's not gone poorly but it has not gone well overall for the Panthers tackles as Rashid Walker who was a starter last couple years at left tackle for the Packers is credited according to pf with the most pressures allowed in the national football league this season among offensive lineman with 20 not great while Monroe Freeling is credited with 15 which Monroe went in

14:41the last week having given up the most pressures according to pf among all offensive lineman Indian NFL only seems to have given up one based off of what pf f is crediting in with so far this year but he's also now dealing one last week against Detroit that is out but he is now dealing with a knee injury which what the wait and see the severity of that on Monday if Dave is willing to tell us likely he won't because gamesmanship this is a team that waits like eight minutes after their opponent to tell us the inactive like why that's so stupid we got to have an hour and a half before the game just tell us what's going on but that's a conversation for another day for ever going to have it again but Monroe he's dealing with that knee injury will probably find out on Wednesday when the injury report comes out what the situation is with him and also will be out practice will be able to see whether he's practicing or not and if he isn't then that could be a good indication of what the plan is moving for but it's not just those two overall the Panthers offensive line has not performed to the level of commitment financially it's been placed on that position

15:46group and yes I understand that Taylor and Ike have yet to play this season but even Luke Fortner they didn't spend a ton of money on and sometimes like you get what you buy if you want to go out there and buy something off of Amazon a nice little sweater but it's like thirty bucks and it pills and it doesn't look great maybe you should have just spent the two three hundred dollars on the cashmere sweater where you know it's going to be a good product and it's going to last and well Panthers bargain bin shopping for an offensive center and I understand Kade Maze injured right now for Detroit did not play that game on Sunday but the Lions at least were willing to spend the money on a guy they felt like would fit in perfectly for their offensive line with the Panthers wanted to not spend that much on their center after spending a great deal on the tackle position on the guard position and even on their defensive lines speaking of the interior and the edge rushers so in total yeah they spent a lot of money up front just not at center one of the most

16:47and arguably the most important position on the offensive line Luke Fortner has allowed fifteen pressures which not great and Robert Hunt man he's kind of struggle penalties as well he's allowed swell according to pff so that has to improve in ESPN their pass block win rate and pass rush win rate or pass block and run block win rate rather has Panthers often to line respectively ranking twenty eighth and twenty seven now pf a little bit more lenient as far as the run blocking goes where they're pretty close as far as pass blocking either way it would be nice to get it you and to get Taylor back as soon as possible for Carolina now on Monday again Dave said that they're still waiting for a mountain to be medically clear they have pushed him and Turkworton to also throw him in here they push both of those guys to their physical limits that they're able to do at this point time with the medical issues that they both have now with Taylor the blood clots found as long severe very serious situation we're all hoping I especially am hoping I mean I lose person

17:51I'm hoping I can't speak for all of y'all but I'm going to speak for myself that he is going to not have an issue moving for the rest of his life and can be there for his wife as children and for all of his family and all of his friends like that's what we want is for him to be happy to be healthy be whole and of course always keep pounding what she's been doing as I've been out there to be able to see practice that little media viewing we've had and even throughout training camp he's been out working out walking around staying active trying to get prepared for the season but there's only so much he can physically do and so the doctor gives them the a okay now it's possible from what Dave said on Monday that Timo is good to go next Sunday in Philadelphia we don't know that though so we'll have to wait and see until probably Wednesday maybe Tuesday because they make a lot of roster decisions on their off day on Tuesdays so at the wait and see what they decide to do now can also set about it you know that he still has a ways to go so do not expect to keep wanting to be back anytime soon so maybe we're looking at we even talked about this like in the October November that would be the time just based

18:56off of the traditional timeline for rupture Patel or tendon and looking at some other players who have dealt with it and have come back after 10 or 11 months so let the way and see what happens there about it he saw as a ways to go but it seems pretty clear to me that whenever Taylor Moton is healthy he should step in to be the right tackle you're happy to be able to get some quality reps out of Monroe for healing this early in his career but he has had the typical struggles that any rookie would have on the offensive line at tackle so you don't want to expose them to anything else and if he is injured then well yeah by default you could say yeah Taylor is going to step back in there but I think either way the nine year sample size that you have Taylor Moton should be the starting right tackle when he's back healthy now it's not as obvious as far as a left tackle with Ike and Rashid Walker because Ike is coming off of a severe knee injury I understand that right now Rashid Walker is giving up the most pressures in the NFL among offensive linemen according to pro football focus which is not great but don't just assume Ike coming back

20:02means that he steps in there and plays well he could step in there but it typically takes time and I told you all this before in the past you need a guy to come back play through it but then it's the next season where they get back to who they were it's hard for me to believe Ike Kwan is going to come in and just be that savior there at left tackle I would expect that he's going to have his ups and downs and then you would hope that they're not going to be nearly what Rashid Walker has been so far this season and that once you get close to the playoffs that Ike has returned to form I don't know if I can expect that and we'll expect that to happen I win he if he returns this season it feels like more of a win than an if but it's still a ways to go according to Dave can house question number two will the running game now take off the Panthers right now ranked 18th in rushing yardage in the NFL while they're ninth in rushing yards per attempt at 4.4 yards per rush contrary to what ESPN's run block win rate says the Panthers offense line does not appear to be the problem when running the football so far the Panthers are

21:03averaging 1.9 yards before contact before anybody gets touched that's third in the NFL and if you go out there and get to go to just look at Panthers running backs they're still third so they're getting a push the running backs aren't getting touched immediately and then when you look at their stuff percentage offensively they're eighth in the NFL so that's 14.1% of their runs they're being stopped at the line of scrimmage or for a loss that's top 10 in the league so their third in yards before contact their eighth and offensive stuff rate so they're doing a pretty good job of getting some movement and not having the running backs get touched behind the line of scrimmage or at the line of scrimmage so I don't really understand what's been the problem per se you look at some of the advance metrics and efficiency ratings the 23rd and E.P.A. per rush and 21st and success rate but we have seen in the second half of these last two games they found something I would say in that game against Detroit while Chubas yardage in the first half was not that impressive he did have a impressive success rate having a 67% success rate in the first half in that game

22:07then breaking out there later on the second half and going over a hundred yards for the first time since that week 16 overtime when when he was high stepping into the end zone at home against Arizona right now Hubbard is 10th among running backs and rushing and ninth among all running back qualifiers with five yards per carry this season he's also 11th in E.P.A. per rush so Chubas getting back to the Chubas that damn Oregon told us he has proven to be as far as a top back in this league that was a bet a gamble that Dan was willing to take and they've done that with players on this roster before look at JC Horn all the injuries he had suffered his first three years and they decided okay let's give him fit your option he becomes a pro one of those next two seasons gets expended and then of course unfortunately gets injured this year but that whole narrative had gone away now Chubas he is rewarding their confidence in him couldn't do it last year when after E.P.A. was going scorched earth against Miami against Dallas they want to reincorporate Chubas back in there did not necessarily work out they then went with Rico for a couple weeks and

23:07Chuba got the job back late in the season but he this season looking healthy after that injury situation and a preseason has looked good he's also 22nd and success rate at 50.8% which is above the league average of 49.2% so Chuba looking like the old Chuba the offensive line does not appear to be an issue when it comes to run blocking when looking at it so Will the Panthers run game finally take off the season that is one of the two questions I have heading into the rest of the year one prediction I have for you I'll tell you what that is here in just a moment I'll lock down Panthers welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on fandal how rewarding are we talking more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring more rewarding than an 18 point comeback maybe even more rewarding than an alignment catching a touchdown dare I say could it be more rewarding than Bryce shung winning the MVP this season fandals making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all new fan or awards club featuring exclusive offers surprises and the more every week check out the fandal app to see what's waiting inside for you there's nothing and I

24:11mean nothing like a game winning play when everything comes down to the final seconds that feeling is what makes football so much fun and fandals adding another layer of excitement rewards and surprises throughout the season make this your most rewarding season ever with fandal visit fandal calm to get started support for today's episode comes from quotes bell cue you owe the business phone system built you never miss a call for businesses every call can be an opportunity and missing one can mean missing a customer quote brings calls text and voice mills together in one place so teams can see the full conversation respond quickly and stay organized it can also be set up in minutes on any device keep an existing number and add teammates as the business grows quotes businesses stay reachable and professional without being complex and with an optional AI agent for after hours calls businesses can answer questions and book appointments even when the team is offline as a business gets busier it becomes harder to keep up with every call text and voice mill I'd want a system that keeps all that organized and makes it easy for the team to respond instead of letting

25:12potential customers fall through the cracks money is on the line always say hello with quote try quote for free plus get 20% off your first six months we get a quote calm such locked on in f l that's cue you owe calm slash locked on in f l I've given you my three observations of the answers offense through the first four games of the season I've asked two questions about the panthers offense through the first four weeks of the season now here's one prediction moving forward to the rest of the season the big thing for me for the panthers offensively going into the year was I just did not know what to expect out of Bry shung we have seen the highs we have seen the lows we have seen the mid from Bry so the last couple of years but we have not seen that week to week consistency there have been three week stretches where you've seen it but there's never been a four week stretch like this which now feels like he's finally turned a corner he's arrived among the NFL's well at least clear top quarterback options as far as starters go in this league may not

26:15be top five may not be totally top 10 just yet but you see the light has come on and it's shining bright when looking at price shung so far this year so I did not know to expect out of him I wanted to see that week to week consistency and so far we have seen that from price I didn't know what to expect from the panthers run game which has had its moments where it's been like uh but then okay starting to see that old Chiba Hubbard late in that game against Cleveland then throughout last week especially in the second half against Detroit all right there you go knew what they had in receiver with team act and jail and cook and when they've been healthy especially cocker that has come to life tied in wasn't quite sure but as I mentioned earlier all right looks like this is going to be the best performing tied in room care on his head since Greg Olson left Carolina and offensive line wise there's been maybe more concerns there than I thought there would be but certainly they should get some guys back in the depth should be better so looking at everything I've seen so far and especially the way that your quarterback impression has been playing I predict the panthers will

27:16finish as a top 10 offense this season I know crazy right that I am predicting that at this point in time. Breast shung is already playing at a top 10 level if he can continue this which is of course still a big if in unknown if he can continue this the panthers are going to be a top 10 offense because he is going to be top 10 and bashingards he'll be top 10 in the paper drop back success rate every single statistical category that matters he will be top 10 and if he continues to play at this level and the running game also appears to be heading the right direction and that's only going to take pressure off a price and allow teams and not have the only key in on price shung but also understand oh crap to be offered that man is running hard as hell yet again gotta make sure to stop him so that should provide balance for the panthers offensively once jail and coca is back we know what he and terror o mcmillan can be as a duo paired now with a tight in room led by Darren Waller Tommy Trumbull and Mitchell Evans in there that also have shown their ability to give price plenty of options out wide and when there have been injuries to coca to legit uh price and

28:20remain hello he stepped up john metchi hi nice to see you he's also stepped up for carolina so that's that's stood up that I did not expect them and believe that they had at wide receiver and with the offensive line eventually Taylor Moten's going to come back and he will step in at right tackle which then means that you now have a young talented rookie tackle who ends up being your third tackle option instead of stone for sight you improve there then you also look at a kid quantum eventually is going to come back in and be your starting left tackle I would think but I don't think it's necessarily 100% sure that's going to happen in that he's going to play at the level that a lot of people are hoping and expect based on what we've seen from him over the last couple of years but still that provides you even more depth at all offensive tackle which currently you do not have then you look at guard all right Danielos probably back next week we will have to have to wait and see but Brady Christiansen would rather have Brady then honestly Cory Bullock who had his struggles not surprisingly so against the Troy but that's probably not the best option for carolina so then you get better on the interior knowing that if something happens to Damien

29:25Lewis again or to look for an or Rob Hunt instead of going to Cory Bullock you're going to Brady Christiansen and now you have a player in Bullock who has experience as a starter even if it's only one game behind Christiansen so the depth over on the offensive line should get better therein the entire unit should get better and the entire offense should get better I think they finish off as a top 10 offense and if that happens when that happens and the Panthers are firmly probably in position to win the division again I don't want to say it's going to happen but yeah this can be people calling Brad Edzig and I think rightfully so because if you go in one year you have Bryce Chung looking like this possibly an MVP candidate if that's what this is going to trend into and become yeah you're probably going to want to call that play car and ask hey buddy um why don't you come over for an interview but right now let's only focus on the right now the here and now and this is the Panthers offense that has looked terrific so far through four weeks there have been some warts but I'm looking at what they are coming back what they have been producing so far and where they're trending this

30:26is going to be a top 10 offense here in 2026 that's going to wrap up this edition of the lock down Panthers bycast for a lock down podcast network is about yours Julie Julie and council again y'all subscribe and follow the show for free over on youtube and wherever you listen to your favorite podcast and be sure to follow me Julie and council run twitter and blue sky at julie and council where I am back with y'all on Wednesday next week answering your weekly Wednesday mail bag questions all you got to do is at me or DM me over on twitter at julie and council or blue sky at julie and council get your questions into me for the weekly Wednesday mail back here on the show and mean time be safe be happy be whole as always keep pounding and tomorrow on friday we'll take a look at the panthers defense through the first four weeks of the season all that more coming up on friday here unlocked on panthers on kowshi you're trading against peers in a live market meaning there's no house and as the probability changes you can buy in and out of your position for a

31:30limited time download the kowshi app and use code locked on to get ten dollars when you trade ten k a l s h i kowshi trade on anything eighteen plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see kowshi dot com slash regulatory it's not just electric it's toyota electric and during toyota's easy toy sales event going electric is easier than ever right now save instantly on a new toyota eb with special incentive programs for first time eb buyers and prior eb owners choose the sleek busy the adventurous busy woodland or the sporty chr but don't wait these special savings won't last we make it easy toyota let's go places