Darin Gantt

PALM BEACH, Fla. Usually, when a team ranks 29th in the league in something, that thing changes considerably in the offseason.

But Dave Canales looks at it differently, when it comes to his offense. In one sense, being in the 20s is a very good thing and a sign of bigger things to come.

The Panthers are effectively running it back with the same set of people on that side of the ball this offseason, with the only substantial addition so far being free-agent running backRico Dowdle. That's not a lot of change, but after watching his team grow during the second half of last season, it's something Canales is comfortable with for one very particular reason.

"There's so much growth potential because of the general age and youth of our group," Canales said during the league's annual meeting at The Breakers resort. "You talk aboutXavier Legette, you gotJalen Coker, you gotJa'Tavion Sanders, evenTommy Tremblesuper young.

"It's like this is such a young core group of guys that we're just getting comfortable with all the schemes that we have and I'm excited to see just some of the micro-growth that happens with each player."

When you look at the Panthers offense as presently constructed, there are seven key players who are 25 or younger. And that overshadows ranking 29th in the league in yardage last year, an average that discounts the direction things were pointing late in the season.

Starting running backChuba Hubbardwill turn all of 26 in June. Tremble has four years of NFL experience, but he's just 24, the same age as left tackleIkem Ekwonuand Legette. QuarterbackBryce Youngis 23, as is Coker. And then there's running backJonathon Brooks, who is still just 21, which means when he comes back from last year's ACL tear, he'll still be very young.

Coupling that with bringing the entire offensive line back, alongside carefully curated veteransAdam Thielen(34) andAndy Dalton(37), creates a blend that has a certain personality.

And even though Young becomes the focus of most conversations about their offense he's the quarterback, that's what happens it's their ability to run the ball that makes Canales think they can build on what happened the second half of last year.

"It's identity, it's play style," he replied when asked what he saw in 2024 that made him willing to have such extreme continuity on that side of the ball. "So we talked about getting the run game going. We did that, you know, and Chuba and the offensive line are playing so well together. The tight ends bought in, the wide receivers, and the whole group.

"And it was like, look, if we're going to be a tough football team, it all starts with the run game. And to be able to get over 1,000 yards and to establish that kind of mentality, I think, really allows us to stay on schedule and play the type of football we wanted to. So schematically, that was important."

Establishing that baseline wasn't easy or cheap. They spent heavily in free agency last year on guardsRobert HuntandDamien Lewis(both 28, with prime years ahead of them), which bumped previous free agent addAustin Corbett(29) inside to center. With 30-year-oldTaylor Motonon one side and Ekwonu on the other, that line created a stable base for both Young and the run game. After allowing a ridiculous 65 sacks in 2023, that number was down to 36 last year.

General manager Dan Morgan has said he wants to extend Ekwonu to keep him here for the long term, allowing them to secure another young piece.

"I think Ickey showed us he's a dominant run blocker," Canales said. "I think he showed us that he is very reliable in the past in pass protection. I think he'd be the first to tell you, cleaning up some hand placement things, some footwork stuff, those are all goals of his.

"But I think we got our left tackle. I love playing with having Ickey over there and having T-Mo on the right side. I feel pretty good about just playing ball against pretty much anybody."

Moton's the oldest starter on the line, is entering the final year of his contract, and has reached the point in his career where regular days off in midweek are the norm. He missed three games last year with injuries (the first of his career), including in Week 17, but he returned for the regular season finale. He's still playing at a high level and allowed just one sack and committed one penalty last season. In PFF's grades, he was 21st out of 141 tackles in the league last year.

"He's been steady Eddie here for a long time, so we're counting on him doing that again," Canales said. "I was so glad he came back in and finished with us in Atlanta, and I just look around the league, and I don't see a lot of veteran guys battling to get back out on the field in a year where you're out of the playoffs with three games left. And T-Mo wanted to be out there with his guys and finish the season, finish what he started.

"But he still plays really good football. He's an excellent pass protector. He's great on the front side of those runs. He moves people."

And the Panthers were able to move the ball on the ground throughout the year, even before Young's second-half renaissance.

They were 18th in the league in rushing last year, with Hubbard eclipsing the 1,000-yard barrier for the first time in his career. That's a considerable achievement, especially since their last-in-the-league defense allowed an all-time record in points, meaning they spent most of the season behind, and not in favorable situations to run the ball.

Adding Dowdle (26) to Hubbard in the backfield gives the Panthers the ability to keep that emphasis, and Canalesexulted in having a pair of "war daddies" he can count on.

The Panthers now have two of last year's top 20 in the league in yards from scrimmage, as both Hubbard (1,366 total, 1,195 rushing) and Dowdle (1,328 total, 1,079 rushing) are coming off career years.

That creates some space for the passing game to continue to evolve.

With Legette, Coker, and Sanders, the Panthers were the only team in the league with three players in the top 15 of rookie receiving yards (Legette 497, Coker 478, Sanders 342). While they're constantly linked to speculation about receivers and could still add there in the draft,Canales said he believes Legette can turn into "that guy" to lead the group.

"Let's just take the next step with him," Canales said. "Let's see what Jalen can do. We know who Adam is, so I love the guys that we have, you know, and I'm excited about this year."

And, of course, Young is in the middle of the young offensive project. After returning to the starting lineup in Week 8, he was a different quarterback. He completed 197-of-319 passes (61.8 percent) for 2,104 yards, with 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions (88.9 passer rating).

But it was the way he did it more than any individual stats, showing some late-game flair, with game-tying or game-winning drives in six of the final nine games.

"I think Bryce does well in high-stakes situations," Canales said. "When you come back into a season after we've been going for a while, and he feels that, and that's when he performs at his best, whether it's at the end of halves or end of games, but in high-stakes situations he's coming back.

"Everyone's looking at him like how's Bryce going to do now that he's back in, and that's where he thrives in that type of environment, where he can lead and impact the team. . . .

"Watching him just work and continue to lead through that whole process was really impressive to me. And so I learned a lot about him just in terms of his consistency of who he was going to be. He never stopped leading throughout that whole time, and I was so impressed by that. And then when he came back in, you just kind of had a look to him. He was like, right, this is my team. I'm going to show you. And so I was like, yes it is, back up here we go. So it was exciting."

But as much as Young himself improved, there was a steady growth throughout the year for a lot of them.

Canales has, on many occasions, steered questions about the changes in Young to "the second-half Panthers" rather than any second-half individuals, but the progression was clear.

And that's why he's willing to head into the draft with a largely static group on offense during an offseason when fixing the defense was a priority, as Morgan and executive VP of football operations Brandt Tilis acknowledged last week.

"I think team football can work with the group that we have right now, and I think we have to be really disciplined, Dan, Brandt, myself looking for players and adding players of value for this year, for the future," Canales said. "We just have to be really disciplined about a plan of building this team the right way and making sure that we make the right moves that are going to affect us for a while, and we have to take all of these great players into consideration. . . .

"But I love the guys we have and I'm excited to see the growth and the steps."