Dave Canales believes Panthers can build a solid run game this season despite their offensive struggles last year

Panthers ranked 20th in the league in rushing yards last season.

Dave Canales believes Panthers can build a solid run game this season despite their offensive struggles last year

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales (Via Imago)

The Carolina Panthers are coming off the most disastrous season in the entire league with a 2-15 record. Things seemed even worse as they couldn’t draft the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft because they already had traded it for Bryce Young in 2023. The best the franchise could do was change the coaching staff and they sure it by bringing in Dave Canales. 

Since Canales joined, he has changed the entire playing strategy by taking the burden off the shoulders of starting quarterback Young, who has just finished his rookie year. Panthers’ head coach gave more insight on the aim for the team in the upcoming season and revealed how he intends to improvise the offense using the run game during his recent appearance at The Season with Peter Schrager. 

That’s what this draft and this offseason was all about--I feel confident that we’ll be able to have a successful run game, which, for me, opens everything else up. It helps third down, it helps move the ball and gives you more opportunities.
Dave Canales said

Canales’ words are backed up by his actions during the offseason. The Panthers signed guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis and drafted running back Jonathon Brooks using their second-round pick to pair him up with Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders. 

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Additionally, the only positive thing that could be panned out of the Panthers’ performance from last season was their rushing yards, which ranked 20th in the league. And with the new additions focused around that, the team may have a standing chance next season. 

Dave Canales aims to shift focus away from Bryce Young

Ever since Canales joined the Panther as head coach, he has made sure to take some focus away from the 2023 No. 1 pick. He believes the quarterback endured a tough rookie season, having all the pressure on him to lead the team to a winning season. As Canales has prior experience at Seattle Seahawks in making the entire team work altogether, he aims to execute that in Carolina. 

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (Via Imago)

The head coach also praised Young by calling him “athletic” and a “leader.” He also previously appreciated him for mastering everything that the coaching staff has been teaching him. 

Canales hasn’t been daydreaming as he knows turning around a team that recorded merely two wins the season prior is not a handy task. That’s why he isn’t aiming for the Super Bowl straightway, instead focusing on bringing up the team to that caliber and not post another disaster like 2023. 

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