Carolina Panthers 2026 Fan Mailbag: Bryce Young & Brad Idzik Evolution, Bobby Okereke Surprise, And More!

Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We got the Browns on deck on Sunday coming off a fantastic and complete win last week. The rose colored glasses are on, and hopefully don’t drop off any time soon. So I’m going to answer all of your questions from the week, let’s dive right in!

Forager: Continuing with the optimism and believing the Panthers have their franchise quarterback (I’ll let you pick if it’s Bryce or Haynes :-)), and that they will be picking 32nd in next year’s draft, what position or positions would be on the table for that pick?

Seeing the success Waller is having, maybe a pass-catching TE? Possibly an OG for salary cap concerns? Another edge rusher because injuries seem to love this position?

Its hard to say at this point, but the Panthers definitely seem to prioritize the trenches on both sides of the ball. Depending on where they pick, a center or a guard would make a lot of sense. I can’t imagine they’ll hang on to both Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis as their cap hits get larger. They could again aim for another tackle since Taylor Moton, Ikem Ekwonu, and Rasheed Walker could all be out the door next off-season depending on circumstance.

EDGE rusher is always a thought since this defense tends to rotate them in quite often. I could even see an interior linebacker as a longer term answer to pair with Devin Lloyd. Bobby Okereke has been playing well, but I think he’s more of a stop gap option for the team.

Brice Guild: Brian, I know all the talk is about the play of Lloyd and he has been fun to watch but my biggest surprise has been Okereke. He seems faster and more versatile then I expected. He seems to already, in this new to him defense, playing quick and effective.

Is it just a good scheme match that is allowing him to play faster then last year? What is your expectations for the development of the chemistry between Lloyd and him and their ceiling together as a interior LB pairing.

I think Okereke is definitely a good scheme fit for what Carolina wants out of their interior linebackers, guys who can aggressively pursue the rush and maintain integrity in zone coverage schemes in the pass. I think they’ve developed relatively good chemistry but we’ve also seen both sides of the extremes as far as offenses they’ve faced are concerned. The Bears blew up this defense and the Falcons could barely move the ball without hurting themselves. Let’s see what it looks like in 4-5 weeks for a better answer.

TXPanther: The Panthers hiring Darrell Bevell as associate HC/offensive specialist flew under the radar for most of us… could he be the answer to why the offense looks to have taken a step?

I absolutely think it helped quite a bit. Between hiring the guy that Dave Canales and Brad Idzik cut their teeth under in Seattle, and Dave Canales handing the reigns off to Idzik with Bevell there to support him, I could totally see Bevell being a bigger reason than people realize in this offense being so effective all of a sudden. Both Canales and Idzik call plays that are likely largely based on what they learned during their time serving underneath him.

WanderingJanusz: Is Nic Scourton the Kelvin Benjamin of 2026?

I’m not ready to award this team with the energy of the 2015 Panthers just two weeks into the season. They are 1-1, so they’d have to win every game left in the regular season to match that energy. That said, it is interesting how Ejiro Evero is deploying his defense now that the pass rush isn’t going to passively generate pressure like they would have (in theory) with a fully healthy Scourton in the rotation. He blitzed a lot last week.

@WTMealey: Amongst their peers who would rank higher

BY vs QBs

Canales vs HCs

DM vs GMs

Idzik vs OCs

Meaning if Bryce is top 15 QB but DM is top 5 GM he ranks higher

I would say Dan Morgan vs General Managers, basically because he has two whole offseasons under his belt where many pundits said it was some of the best drafting and maneuvering in free agency they had seen. Right now, Canales, Bryce Young, and Idzik are all kind of starting on new footing. So I’m going with Dan Morgan.

Gunnercrf: How about that lead block by Moehrig on that pick six?! That was so hype he pancaked the guy so bad at the endzone he woke up in a Denny’s. Love seeing defensive players lead blocking for their teammates.

While Tre’Von Moehrig isn’t a traditional safety by any means, he absolutely brings the physicality on just about every play he can. I very much enjoy watching him play. Kind of reminds me of Chris Harris with how he hits at times.

SmoothC: How different would the ATL game be if they had a QB above the level of a moldy pumpkin? The defense still allowed 160 yards rushing.

Taking your starters out in the 4th quarter during a blowout win doesn’t help the rushing numbers in a vacuum. They very much held the Falcons and especially Bijan Robinson in check when it mattered.

SnarkyComet: Brian, curious on your take of a segment on Rich Eisen’s Overreaction Monday (On a Tuesday) this week where it was proposed that Bryce could wind up in the top 5 passers in the NFL this season. Eisen quickly said it wasn’t an overreaction and that he’s been playing great, but he wants to see how Bryce will do against this Browns defense.

Crazy talk or is there something there?

Based on two games worth of information to digest, no it isn’t crazy. Is it objectively an overreaction? Yes, I would say so. Carolina has a lot of good teams on their schedule this season and much better defenses ahead. Combine that with the general wear and tear of the long NFL season likely causing some important starters to miss at least some time, and teams getting more film on Brad Idzik’s tendencies as a play caller, and things could absolutely slow down. But Bryce has built a case so far that he could and should be in that conversation.

JakeNCVA: At least twice this summer (once by me), you were asked if we expected the playcalling to be much different under Idzik than it was under Canales. And if I remember correctly the short answer was no, not really. We have seen the offense be better so far than it was most of the time last season. Well to be more precise, we have seen the passing game be better. Some people are attributing this to Idzik calling for more passes down the field. But that would mean that last season Canales called pass plays that were designed dump offs at the LOS at least half of the time while still sending receivers downfield. Through two games the Panthers offense is averaging almost 40 drop backs at game to around 20 running plays. Yes there have been increased targets to the tight ends in both games – something I imagine Canales and Idzik planned on doing in the offseason. As some of your CSR counterparts have said — it appears the game has slowed down for Bryce. Canales said “Bryce has taken advantage of the looks he has gotten”. Is it really the play calling or more like both Bryce Young and the receivers have both improved this season.

I’ll be happy to get my receipts for not being correct necessarily in my prediction. However, I do think its a combination of Brad Idzik encouraging more aggression and Bryce Young simply being way more comfortable and confident. They were running similar down field concepts in 2025, and sometimes Bryce just didn’t throw them and elected to play it safe. But by the same token, I don’t know how much Canales was gearing him towards playing it more safe than letting it rip. We certainly saw Bryce let it rip at times in 2025, but he’s been really dealing the ball. I almost feel like we’re seeing an evolution of Canales’s game plans with some higher urgency to score now rather than simply keep the Panthers in the game.

That’s all for this week Panthers fans. Enjoy the Browns game, and KEEP POUNDING!