Can Carolina Panthers rookies lift the offense in 2024?

TEXAS ATHLETICS

Former Texas running back Jonathon Brooks, the Carolina Panthers’ second-round draft pick, is recovering from an ACL tear that caused him to miss the final three games of the 2023 season. Brooks is joining a running back corps that returns the top three rushers from last year.

Let the debate begin about whether the Carolina Panthers hit or missed on their 2024 draft class.

Of course, no one can determine how good (or bad) a class is until a few seasons have played out. The 2023 group will rightly or wrongly be graded by quarterback Bryce Young, the top overall pick who struggled as a rookie. Is it too early to label him a bust? More than likely, but the 2024 class will have a hand in shaping the narrative.

Carolina shopped for playmakers in 2024, especially on the offensive side, which pulled up the rear in nearly every statistical category last season. The top pick, former South Carolina receiver Xavier Legette, is a big target (6-1, 221 pounds) with speed (he was clocked at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Is he the game-changing skill position player Carolina needs to make the passing attack whole? Perhaps, but it’s not a stretch to see similarities with Jonathan Mingo, another big receiver who was drafted last year and put up pedestrian numbers as a rookie.

There are a couple of intriguing rookies coming to Carolina. The most interesting is former Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, the 101st overall pick who was rated second behind Georgia’s Brock Bowers among players at the position in this year’s draft. Sanders caught 99 passes the last two seasons at Texas and an athletic target who could challenge for the starting job as a rookie.

In today’s NFL, an athletic pass-catcher at tight end can cause headaches for defenders because they’re physically larger than cornerbacks and can run away from safeties.

Running back Jonathan Brooks, Sanders’ college teammate, is the other intriguing prospect. Before tearing the ACL in his knee late in 2023, Brooks ran for 1,139 yards and at 6-0, 215 pounds, certainly is sturdy enough to run between tackles. If he’s ready for the start of training camp in July, Brooks will certainly compete for carries in a running back room that includes Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard.

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