The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be keeping a close eye on the Carolina Panthers heading into the 2026 season.
After all, Carolina is the team that took the NFC South crown from Tampa Bay in 2025, snapping the Bucs’ four-year streak atop the division.
The Buccaneers don’t start training camp until next week, but the Panthers are already on the practice field. Thanks to an aggressive free agency period and a promising draft class, Carolina has the pieces to contend for the division title once again.
But they’ll only go as far as quarterback Bryce Young takes them, and his training camp got off to a less-than-ideal start.
Panthers’ biggest question mark resurfaces as Bryce Young struggles at training camp
Young had the best season of his career last season, with 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That’s a pedestrian career-best stat line for a former No. 1 overall pick.
In 44 career starts, Young has completed 62% of his passes for 49 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
He’s thrown for fewer than 200 yards in 28 of those games and led Carolina to a 14-30 record. In fairness, he was held back by an abysmal supporting cast early in his career.
Still, even at his best, Young hasn’t proven to be anything more than a middle-of-the-pack quarterback. He’s had some flashes of greatness, but has never been able to play at that level consistently.
The Panthers are counting on him to finally take the next step in 2026 with the best supporting cast of his career, but he hasn't exactly been inspiring early at training camp.
Now, I’ll preface this by saying it’s only practice. Quarterbacks are taking chances they might not take in a game, and overreacting would be silly. Bucs fans will remember when Baker Mayfield went viral for a poor throw he made in one of his first practices in Tampa Bay. It ultimately proved meaningless, as Mayfield led the Bucs to a playoff win that very season.
That doesn’t mean every rocky start should be dismissed, though. Some training camp struggles end up being a sign of things to come.
Final play of practice is a Will Lee interception of a Bryce Young pass to Xavier Legette right in front of the defense. Defense erupts and Lee punts the ball in the air.
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) July 24, 2026
Young threw multiple interceptions during Friday’s training camp practice, and the defense reportedly dominated in team sessions.
Again, it’s nothing to overreact to, but the Bucs can certainly hope Young’s turnovers extend into the regular season.
The Panthers are just 1-5 against Tampa Bay with Young at the helm, but he’s actually protected the ball quite well with seven touchdowns and two interceptions in those matchups, despite completing under 60% of his passes.
A revamped Bucs defense will be looking to take advantage of Young’s weaknesses and force more turnovers against him.
The Panthers will live and die with Young this season, so if he struggles to take the next step, the Bucs’ chances at reclaiming the NFC South crown will only improve.
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