Before diving into Fantasy analysis for each team, I'll present a brief overview containing their offensive ranks in my baseline team projections as well as any notable coaching or offensive line changes.

Panthers projections:

Projected Offensive Plays – (31st)

Projected Passing TDs – 21.2 (27th)

Projected Rushing TDs – 17.0 (22nd)

Notable coaching changes:

• Dave Canales takes over as head coach
• Harold Goodwin joins Canales in the journey from Tampa Bay to Carolina and will work as assistant head coach/run game coordinator
• Brad Idzik also comes over from the Bucs to take over as Carolina's new offensive coordinator

Idzik was the wide receivers coach in Tampa. Canales is the coach who inspires the most confidence, as we have seen him associated with career rescues for Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield. So, of course, Carolina getting him to work with Bryce Young is exciting.

Canales served just one season as the offensive coordinator for Tampa before getting a head coaching gig. In his 2023 Bucs OC debut, Tampa ranked 13th in situation-neutral pass rate and was middle of the pack in pre-snap motion and play action rate. That might not sound exciting, but it's still a significant upgrade over last year's Panthers direction, which led Carolina to the 28th-ranked motion rate and 30th-ranked play action rate.

Here's why this is important:

Notable offensive line changes

• Signed veteran guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt
• Signed tackle Yosh Nijman
  

There were 20 different tackles who allowed 40+ pressures in 2023, two of them -- right tackle Taylor Morton and sixth-overall pick from the 2022 NFL Draft Ikem Ekwonu -- played for the Panthers and are projected to start again in 2024. Believe it or not, those two had the best PFF grades of any Panthers linemen. The interior of the line was hugely problematic but will look completely different in Bryce Young's second season.

Hunt has been one of the NFL's best guards over the past two seasons as a Miami Dolphin, and the Panthers signed him to a five-year, $100 million deal with $63 million guaranteed. He's a massive upgrade for this team. Lewis was given $26.2M guaranteed on a four-year, $53M contract. These investments signal that Austin Corbett will transition to center. Corbett is a former Round 2 pick who had three seasons of sustained success from 2020-2022 before injuries slowed him down in 2023.

The middle of the line should be shored up. There's tons of talent at the tackle spot. And if either tackle struggles or is injured, swing tackle Yosh Nijman performed well when given opportunities with the Packers. This is at least a league-average line from a talent perspective and could be a top-10 unit if Ekwonu takes a step forward in his third season.

Which Panthers players will be worth targeting and avoiding in 2024 Fantasy drafts? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Jacob Gibbs' Do Not Draft list, all from one of the nation's most-accurate rankers!