By Harry P McGill ยท July 20, 2026
The first tells you the first round pick will look impressive. The second informs you that the starting quarterback has developed chemistry with the best receiver.
Thank you, detective.
The interesting predictions are the ones sitting a little farther from the main road. They may not happen. That is why they are bold. But each one has enough football logic behind it to make camp more interesting.
So I am leaving the obvious Bryce Young, Tetairoa McMillan, and Monroe Freeling storylines to everyone else.
Here are five developments I think could surprise Panthers fans before the preseason ends.
Most of the receiver conversation has settled around McMillan, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, and rookie Chris Brazzell II.
Metchie has become the forgotten man.
That may not last long.
Young and Metchie already share a history from Alabama, and both players have spoken about understanding each other's timing, adjustments, and route details. That sort of familiarity matters when an offense begins installing more complicated concepts.
Metchie may not win a starting job. He may not need to.
I expect him to become one of the most reliable receivers during practice, particularly on third downs and option routes. Coaches notice the player who keeps being in the correct place.
My prediction is that Metchie catches more passes in team drills than at least one receiver currently considered safely ahead of him.
Ja'Tavion Sanders is the most naturally gifted receiving tight end on the roster. Tommy Tremble remains the experienced blocker.
That makes the depth chart look fairly simple.
I do not think it stays simple.
Evans has the size and receiving ability to become more than a developmental player. If he blocks well enough to avoid becoming predictable, Dave Canales can use him in multiple personnel groups without announcing the play to the defense.
That is valuable.
There has already been some quiet discussion among Panthers fans about whether Evans could push Sanders sooner than expected. I think that debate gets louder during camp.
My prediction is that Evans earns meaningful first team snaps before the final preseason game and enters September with a larger offensive role than most people expect.
Nick Scott returns with starting experience and a large tackle total from last season.
That does not make his job untouchable.
Carolina needs more playmaking from the back end of the defense. Tackles are useful, but a defense also needs safeties who arrive early, contest throws, and make quarterbacks hesitate.
Ransom has had a year to learn the system and enters camp with a chance to show he can handle more responsibility. He is younger, physical, and should be more comfortable than he was as a rookie.
This will not necessarily become a dramatic public competition. Coaches often move defensive backs around quietly while everybody is watching receivers catch passes.
My prediction is that Ransom takes enough first team work to make the Week One safety lineup a genuine question.
Simmons has spent much of his career being described by what he is not.
Not a traditional linebacker.
Not a full time safety.
Not a normal slot defender.
Perhaps that has been the problem.
Ejiro Evero does not need to force Simmons into one tidy position. He can use him as a coverage linebacker, a matchup defender against tight ends, a blitzer, and an extra defensive back in dime packages.
Camp practices are built for experimentation. Simmons gives the staff more options than nearly anyone else on the roster.
My prediction is that he becomes one of the most discussed defensive players in camp and creates a role that does not fit neatly on the printed depth chart.
Dillon is easy to dismiss as insurance.
Chuba Hubbard is established. Jonathon Brooks carries considerable upside if healthy. Trevor Etienne brings speed and receiving ability.
Then there is Dillon, built like somebody borrowed a refrigerator and taught it to run downhill.
He gives Carolina something the other backs do not. Short yardage power. Goal line mass. The ability to close a game when a defense has grown tired of tackling.
Canales may decide that is worth keeping active on Sundays.
My prediction is that Dillon earns a defined short yardage role during camp and becomes more involved with the first team offense than most observers expect.
It may feel old fashioned, rather like discovering a working cassette player in the glove compartment, but third and one remains third and one.
Haynes King making the roster.
Will Grier's retirement gives the undrafted rookie more preseason work and a clearer path to becoming the developmental quarterback.
I still believe Carolina enters the season with Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett on the active roster while trying to keep King on the practice squad.
But if King plays well in the Hall of Fame Game and the rest of the preseason, the Panthers may decide exposing him to waivers is too risky.
That one is close enough to keep in the back pocket.
Most camp predictions will be wrong.
That is part of the fun.
Every summer introduces one player nobody expected, unsettles one position that looked secure, and makes one veteran suddenly aware that reputation does not take practice snaps.
Metchie could make himself difficult to cut. Evans could complicate the tight end rotation. Ransom could push for a starting job. Simmons could become Evero's most flexible defender. Dillon could carve out a role nobody thought existed.
None of those outcomes would qualify as impossible.
They would simply qualify as inconvenient for the players currently standing in the way.