100 Questions: Fantasy Football 2024 (Carolina Panthers)

As we head toward the start of the 2024 NFL and fantasy football season, FTN Fantasy editor-in-chief Daniel Kelley is asking (and attempting to answer) the 100 most pressing questions in fantasy football. This is 100 Questions. Today: The Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers thought they were close, and they got desperate. They won exactly 5 games in three straight years 2019-2021, and after a disastrous 1-4 start to the 2022 season, they fired head coach Matt Rhule … and things turned around. They hired Steve Wilks, sat Baker Mayfield and went 6-6 the rest of the way, including closing 5-3 down the stretch, even after having dealt Christian McCaffrey away. Getting to 7-10 after that start, and with the Mayfield acquisition going as poorly as it realistically could have, the Panthers had to think they were just a quarterback away.

So they did what they thought was the logical thing. They sold out to get that quarterback. Sure, it cost them a future first and a star receiver in DJ Moore, but getting the first overall pick should have been worth it. Right?

Of course, we know how it went. The team couldn’t even kind of replace Moore’s production, Bryce Young desperately needed help, the team hired a new coach and then fired him after 11 games, they fell to 2-15 last year, and they watched what should have been their first pick — ultimately the first overall — go to Chicago and become Caleb Williams. All while the second pick in 2023, after they took Young, was C.J. Stroud, who right away looked like a potential future MVP.

The Panthers thought they were close, and it led to them being further away than ever.

The Questions

17. How Much Hope Is There for Bryce Young?
18. Is Diontae Johnson Worth Believing In?
19. What Do We Make of Jonathon Brooks?

100 Questions for 2024: Carolina Panthers

How Much Hope Is There for Bryce Young?

Since 2010, 31 quarterbacks have (a) been drafted in the first round and (b) started at least 8 games as a rookie. Of those 31, Bryce Young’s 9.78 fantasy points per game last year was the third worst of that 31, and unless you’re a die-hard Justin Fields believer, it’s not a promising list of peers:

Worst Fantasy PPG, Rookie First-Rounders Since 2010, Min. 8 Starts:

Yes, it’s very clear that the Panthers did Young no favors last year. His supporting cast (offensive line included) was the worst in the league, and there wasn’t a real contender for that crown. But rookie quarterbacks — especially first overall picks — are supposed to rise above their surroundings, and Young just plain didn’t.

The Panthers tried to give him some help last year. They traded for Diontae Johnson and drafted WR Xavier Legette, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders and RB Jonathon Brooks, and they signed Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt to bolster the offensive line. Obviously, we’ll need to see a lot of Young putting things together to believe in him as anything resembling a fantasy starter in a one-QB league, but as a two-QB/superflex flyer or acceptable backup, I don’t hate it — to the point that I drafted Young as my QB3 in the Scott Fish Bowl, if that counts for anything.

Is Diontae Johnson Worth Believing In?

Diontae Johnson’s 2021 season featured career highs in targets (169), receptions (107), yards (1,161), touchdowns (8) and PPR scoring (274.4), with a WR8 finish that established his star bona fides and further boosted the “Steelers are the best at finding wide receivers” narrative. He’s been chasing that high since, famously somehow scoring 0 touchdowns in 2022 despite 147 targets. Now, he’s in Carolina and should be the new WR1 for second-year Bryce Young.

When I started this section, I was very prepared to pump the brakes very hard on Johnson. After all, I called him the Panthers’ bust in our Sleepers, Busts & Bold Predictions series. My fear is that Johnson was brought in as an elite separator (he averaged 3.6 yards of separation in 2019, fifth in the league, per Next Gen Stats), and he really isn’t that anymore (steady drop to 2.9 last year, 54^th among receivers), and if he can’t separate anymore, he isn’t the Bryce Young Cheat Code he was brought in to be, and people were getting too excited about the new arrival.

Except … that’s not what’s happening in reality. Johnson is still carrying plenty of buzz, but it hasn’t manifested in a big ADP bump. He’s only going as the WR41 in ADP, and even if he has dropped off, Johnson’s all but guaranteed a hefty target load, a la Adam Thielen’s run as the WR1 in Carolina last year. Johnson probably doesn’t have the ceiling he showed in 2021, but his high floor makes him a relatively savvy pickup as a back-end WR3 for a team that drafts volatile WR1s and WR2s.

What Do We Make of Jonathon Brooks?

Is Jonathon Brooks hadn’t torn his ACL at Texas in November, he’d have been the first running back off the board in the draft. And I know that because even with the ACL recovery, he was the first running back off the board. He just might have flirted with Round 1 status if not for the injury. As it is, he stands to be the clear RB1 in Carolina whenever he’s ready to be up to speed in the NFL. But the team needs Brooks to be a success for more than just 2024, especially given that only two teams (Patriots +900, Broncos +700) have worse odds to make the playoffs on DraftKings Sportsbook than the Panthers’ +550.

Brooks was very good at Texas last year, with a 91.9 PFF rushing grade that was third in the draft class and 6.1 yards per carry. The Panthers might not have a star back on the roster other than maybe Brooks, but Chuba Hubbard had 238 carries last year and Miles Sanders had 259 the year before. And of course, the Panthers threw wheelbarrows’ worth of dollars at guards this offseason in an effort to build up the line. Translation: Brooks has a very good chance of being a fantasy star-or-close … when he’s ready. Even if he’s ready for Week 1 (which at this point sounds possible if not likely), the Panthers aren’t likely to thrust him into a workhorse role right away. Given Sanders’ as-bad-as-it-possibly-could-have-been 2023, Hubbard should be the beneficiary of Brooks’ light start to the season. But when Brooks does take over, I can see him being a top-20 back. Whether his current ADP (RB25) is worth that depends on your roster construction — if you go RB-heavy early and either get Brooks as your RB3 or as your RB2 with another back soon after, that can be a season-maker. If you go WR early, taking Brooks at his ADP might doom you. So there’s individual-team questions about when and how to take Brooks, but if you do, you might have a good time in the second half of the 2024 season.