2025 Team Previews: Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers 2025 Team Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Relevant Players
Chuba Hubbard, RB (ADP: 44, RB17): Hubbard was treated as a handcuff last season, despite rookie RB Jonathan Brooks coming into the NFL recovering from a serious knee injury. When Hubbard was excellent to start the year, he was still largely ignored because of the impending arrival of Brooks to take his workload. And when the smoke cleared from the 2024 fantasy season, Hubbard had over 1,300 total yards and 11 touchdowns. This dude wound up being a key piece of winning fantasy rosters, who not only churned out an efficient almost 1,200 yards on the ground but who also hauled in 43 passes. Some might say that this ADP is still a little disrespectful, considering his backfield mates are clearly behind him and Carolina’s offense looked healthier to end the year. I wouldn’t go too crazy with where to draft Hubbard, but being in the back half of the Top 20 does feel correct. This is a good spot.
Tetairoa McMillan, WR (ADP: 64, WR27): McMillan was the second WR off the board in this year’s draft, and while some were pumped to see him go to a team where he can immediately be the alpha, I’m a bit less enthused. McMillan is a true X receiver, and while there are some WRs on the Panthers that look like him in terms of build, this roster was definitely crying out for a real X. That’s a good thing, because McMillan will be on the field a ton. Where I become less excited is that Carolina actually has more crowded of a WR room than many realize, and while they’re not stocked with stars, there are good players that will command targets.
McMillan was the best WR prospect in this draft, unless you’re qualifying Travis Hunter as a WR, but it was a weaker class. While McMillan should be a productive player right away, he doesn’t have the expectations of last year’s crop, and likely would’ve been barely inside or just outside the Top 5 of the 2024 rookie WRs. As an X receiver, McMillan put up a 70.4% success rate vs. man, placing him in the 59th percentile. He was solid vs. zone, winning at an 80.1% clip, good for the 60th percentile. These are good marks, and he’ll probably get better, but it’s not screaming superstar rookie campaign. Where he shines is beating press coverage, which he beat at a 73.1% rate. All of this makes for a player I believe can help fantasy managers win games, but the ADP makes him risky for no reason. He is going in a range with WRs who have just as much, if not more upside, who we have seen be high level contributors. McMillan is going ahead of players like George Pickens, Chris Godwin, Jaylen Waddle and Calvin Ridley. Why? Should his ADP drop a bit I’ll get pumped but for now I think he’s being drafted at his ceiling for the year.
Interesting Sleeper(s)
**Jalen Coker, WR (ADP: 285, WR94): Coker is built like McMillan, but actually should serve as a healthy complement to him on the inside. One of the reasons I’m a bit bearish on McMillan dominating targets is the presence of Coker who presents serious mismatch issues as a slot receiver. For all his size, Coker struggled on routes down the field like nines (51.4%) and corners (50%), while thriving on slants (88.1%), digs (73.7%) and outs (86.2%). Coker didn’t dominate as a rookie, but his season was impressive for an undrafted receiver in a largely broken offensive environment. Coker saw 6+ targets four times, and put up 60+ yards in three of them while scoring both of his touchdowns. The Panthers should take notice and make sure Coker is a bigger part of the passing game this year, because he can be a real friend to Bryce Young. His ADP being this low means nobody paid attention, and that’s value for us.
Notable Players
Bryce Young, QB (ADP: 159, QB26): Young was so unbelievably bad to start 2024, and his benching was earned and necessary. When he came back, I daresay he looked like a potentially useful fantasy QB. From Weeks 8-18, Young threw all 15 of his touchdown passes, passed the 250-yard mark three times, and saw his yards per game jump from 171.6 for the season to 210.4 during this span.
Now, the passing numbers he put up during his upgraded period still aren’t passing fantasy muster. What makes him somewhat intriguing is his rushing. For a player so slight, he ran the ball very well! He finished the season with 249 yards on 43 carries while scoring six times on the ground. The TD total seems fluky, and only this year’s season will give us a real window into the truth about his rushing capability but it’s worth monitoring. Young is a fun gamble as a QB2 in two-QB/SuperFlex formats, but in terms of single-QB redraft he’s still a spot start only.
Adam Thielen, WR (ADP: 164, WR61): We keep trying to bury Thielen, and he keeps on being better than anyone believes he has a right to be. He was pedestrian to begin the season, then got hurt and missed Weeks 4-10. He came back and averaged 72.2 yards per game and scored four of his five touchdowns in that seven-game span. We can’t totally discount Thielen as a player who matters for fantasy managers, especially in deep leagues, and he very well may remain a key target for Young. With that said, Thielen’s best spots are the X or the slot, and those roles should be covered by McMillan and Coker. Maybe Thielen pushes Coker to the side, and that’s why his ADP is so low, but that would be short sighted for a team whose goal is development, not maximizing the win total. I’d rather err on the ceiling of Coker than the stability of Thielen, who remains a good player, but is no longer one who can thrive for an entire season.
Xavier Leggette, WR (ADP: 196, WR67): Legette is another of the Panthers’ huge WRs that looks like a prototypical X, but is actually more suited to the slot. Legette is gifted physically, both in size and in athleticism, and it flashed during his rookie year. But he ultimately wasn’t relevant despite this offense providing ample opportunity for a WR to step up and be the alpha, because they were trying to make him their X receiver and he couldn’t do it. Legette was great on slants, digs and flats, all stuff that slot receivers need to thrive on. But he is simply too unrefined to get open consistently, ranking in just the 35th percentile vs. man coverage, and struggling badly vs. press (55.1%, 17th percentile). And while he is best suited for the slot, his zone success rate was well below average too, sitting at 75.4% (26th percentile). What Legette really is, is an athlete who can make big plays with the ball in his hands or win contested catch battles down the field. That doesn’t mean he excelled in that area either, but he has all the tools to be a contested catch monster. That could juice his TD rate and make him a FLEX-worthy option. But if he’s battling for slot duty with Coker and Thielen, he’s unfortunately the third choice there despite his draft pedigree.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (ADP: 252, TE30): Sanders is big, athletic and a starting TE. I don’t have much to offer about his game, but he should be acknowledged, since this offense lacks clear-cut star WRs, and a big body should be a friend to a small QB like Bryce Young when he’s trying to throw to the middle of the field.
Handcuffs
Rico Dowdle, RB (ADP: 142, RB49): Dowdle put up over 1,300 yards last season for the Cowboys and carried the ball 235 times. It’s probably unfair to lump him into the pure handcuffs section of this preview, but he chose a team where Hubbard is established as the guy, and did a lot of the same things. Dowdle should probably be a player that Hubbard managers also draft, because if he becomes the lead back he’ll definitely be relevant. But his path to meaningful touches is unclear as long as Hubbard is healthy.
Trevor Etienne, RB (ADP: 276, RB77): Etienne was very solid for the Florida Gators, who have long had shaky offenses. He’s never carried a big workload though, and is behind two very solid dual threat players so he will need multiple injuries to get a shot.