Coming off a surprise NFC South title and a competitive Wild Card showing against the Rams, the Carolina Panthers enter the 2026 season with real fantasy intrigue for the first time in years. The offense isn’t going to look like Cincinnati’s, but stability under head coach Dave Canales, a maturing Bryce Young, and a true No. 1 receiver have made this skill group draftable rather than avoidable. Here are the three Panthers worth targeting on draft day.
Tetairoa McMillan (WR)
- Key Stats: 70 receptions on 122 targets for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 regular-season games as a rookie; WR15 finish in Half-PPR formats; 26.3% target share; 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year.
- Reason for Recommendation: McMillan is the centerpiece of Carolina’s passing game and the team’s most reliable fantasy asset. He commanded nearly a third of the Panthers’ 2025 passing offense, and with offensive coordinator Brad Idzik returning for his third season and set to take over play-calling duties from head coach Dave Canales, the system stability sets him up for a Year 2 leap.
- The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranked him as the top wide receiver on his 2025 NFL All-Rookie team and believes McMillan could develop into a top-10 wide receiver in the NFL. He finished strong, too: five of his seven touchdown catches came from Week 11 onward. Draft him as a high-end WR2 with WR1 upside.
Chuba Hubbard (RB)
- Key Stats: 2025- 511 rushing yards (3.8 yards per carry) and one touchdown with a 30-223-3 receiving line across 15 games; 2024- 1,366 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns on 293 touches en route to an RB15 finish.
- Reason for Recommendation: Hubbard is the classic post-hype bounce-back. His 2025 was wrecked by a Week 5–6 calf injury that opened the door for Rico Dowdle to seize the lead role, but Dowdle recently departed the Panthers for the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency, leaving the depth chart wide open.
- Hubbard’s main competition in Carolina appears to be Jonathan Brooks and Trevor Etienne, who have combined for 29 career carries so far in their NFL careers. Carolina also has financial reasons to feed him- they signed Hubbard to a four-year, $33.2 million extension in late 2024. Behind one of the league’s better run-blocking lines and operating in a Canales offense that historically funnels work to a single back, Hubbard offers RB2 volume at an RB3/RB4 price.
Bryce Young (QB)
- Key Stats: 304 of 478 pass attempts for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, plus 216 yards and two scores on 54 carries over 16 starts; career highs in passing yards, touchdowns, completion percentage (63.6%), and passer rating (87.8); QB19 finish in fantasy football.
- Reason for Recommendation: Young isn’t a set-and-forget QB1, but he’s a genuinely useful streamer and Superflex asset who has quietly earned the team’s trust. The Carolina Panthers officially picked up quarterback Bryce Young’s fifth-year option for the 2027 season.
- He had six of his 12 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in 2025, and his 12 comeback wins are the most of any QB in the NFL since 2023, which translates to garbage-time and late-game passing volume fantasy managers love. With McMillan ascending, Jalen Coker emerging as a chemistry partner late in the year, and modest rushing upside, Young is a solid QB2 in 1QB leagues and a back-end starter in Superflex with room to grow.
The Bottom Line
The Panthers aren’t a fantasy goldmine: the pass volume remains a real concern in a Canales-Idzik run-heavy scheme, but each of these three players profiles as a value relative to ADP. McMillan is the must-draft anchor with legitimate WR1 upside, Hubbard is the post-hype bounce-back with a clear path to lead-back volume now that Dowdle is gone, and Young is the cheap late-round quarterback whose floor finally looks stable.
Target McMillan early, scoop Hubbard in the middle rounds where the market is still discounting his 2025, and grab Young as a streamer or Superflex stash. Together, they’re the smartest way to mine Carolina for fantasy production in 2026.
