Despite what fantasy football platform you frequent, chances are you’ll have a similar projection for the Panthers in 2025. Bryce Young will be better but not great, Chuba Hubbard will be the best fantasy performer, and the defense might actually lose you points. Let’s take a closer look at ESPN’s fantasy projections specifically and whether or not we agree with them.
Quarterback
Bryce Young – 268.36 fantasy points
Projection: 367/589 passing, 3948 yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 51 carries, 294 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns
Bryce Young played well enough down the stretch for many in the national media to have some optimism. I think most Panthers fans would be pleased if he threw for almost 4,000 yards this season. I agree with ESPN here in that I also think Bryce is worth a flyer late in your fantasy draft as a bench QB. If he balls out, he could potentially be worth a starting spot down the line.
Runningback
Chuba Hubbard – 258.55 fantasy points
Projection: 276 carries, 1242 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns, 49 receptions, 289 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Hubbard is, unsurprisingly, projected to be the leading fantasy point scorer among non-quarterbacks on the Panthers this season. He’s projected to score slightly more points than he tallied last season, mainly because he’s projected to be just a smidge more productive in the passing game. He is definitely RB1 for the Panthers and could be RB1 for your fantasy team. The Panthers will make sure Hubbard gets his carries.
Rico Dowdle – 83.95 fantasy points
Projection: 75 carries, 340 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, 22 receptions, 147 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
I think the experts are underselling Dowdle here. I don’t see a way that a thousand yard rusher last season only totes the rock 75 times. These projections are for under 100 touches, which would be a failure by this coaching staff over a 17 game season. I think Dowdle will get closer to 150 touches or more, especially if the Panthers want to keep Hubbard fresh. If your backs start to get the injury bug over the course of the season, Dowdle might be a decent spot start option.
Wide Receiver
Tetairoa McMillan – 235.11 fantasy points
Projection: 132 targets, 83 receptions, 1123 receiving yards, 7 receiving touchdowns
McMillan is tough to project due to him being a rookie receiver, a historically volatile fantasy football group. That said, Young definitely seems to have a good rapport with McMillan, as evidenced by some big plays and a dropped touchdown by T-Mac in the preseason. I think the seven receiving touchdowns is a little low, and I could see him easily notching double digits in that category. I do agree with ESPN that Nalo is a high upside WR2 option this season.
Xavier Legette – 165.77 fantasy points
Projection: 99 targets, 62 receptions, 738 receiving yards, 4 receiving touchdowns, 8 carries, 47 rushing yards
ESPN views Legette as a late round flyer with high upside this season, and I would tend to agree. With Adam Thielen gone, and now Jalen Coker out at least four games with a quad injury, Legette should be getting the second highest share of targets on offense. The four touchdowns projection makes sense as that is the amount Legette had all of last season and now he has McMillan taking the lion’s share of redzone targets. XL’s touchdowns will likely have to come on explosive plays.
Jalen Coker – 108.52 fantasy points
Projection: 63 targets, 42 receptions, 503 receiving yards, 3 receiving touchdowns
ESPN is rather harsh on Coker, saying he isn’t worth drafting. I beg to differ. Coker definitely seemed to be Bryce’s security blanket at the end of last season and during this preseason. After T-Mac dropped the touchdown, Coker was the guy Bryce found in the endzone on a broken play. I think that trust is worth taking a chance on Coker. You could always stash him on IR until he’s back and fully healthy, maybe giving him a couple games to get back into game shape before considering him for a bye week flex option.
Tight End
Ja’Tavion Sanders – 102.35 fantasy points
Projection: 61 targets, 44 receptions, 439 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
Sanders is another player whose fantasy viability is hurt by McMillan’s redzone prowess. While he definitely showed some flashes last season, especially before the neck injury, he has yet to consistently show that game breaking ability. While I would not necessarily draft Sanders, I might keep him as the bye week tight end in deeper leagues to see if he takes off again this season.
Defense/Special Teams
Panthers D/ST – 51.24 fantasy points
Projection: 37 sacks, 13 interceptions, 6 fumbles recovered, 2 defensive touchdowns, 415 points against, 6313 yards against
The Carolina Panthers defense scored six fantasy points last season. Not six per week, since over the course of the entire year. SIX! ESPN is naturally predicting an improvement in almost every single category, but still predicting this defense to be pretty paltry in the fantasy game. According to ESPN and myself, best case scenario for this defense is a matchup play depending on the opponent.
Ryan Fitzgerald – 126.72
Projection: 16/17 from under 40 yards, 7/9 from 40-49 yards, 5/7 from 50+ yards, 28/33 total, 33/36 XP
Fitzgerald is a rookie kicker, so it’s really hard to predict what will happen. I think a 28/33 season will be considered successful by fans and the team, but it isn’t really a dominant fantasy season from a kicker. Still, even the top projected kickers are only expected to get around 145 fantasy points. Kickers rarely make or break a season, but they can make or break a matchup in fantasy football. We’ll see how Fitz does the first few weeks, but I’d take my chances with a more experienced guy at the position at least for now.
