Bryce Young will need to find more ways to connect with Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker to bring the Panthers offense to new heights. Bob Donnan / Imagn ImagesAug. 31, 2026 12:00 pm EDT Updated “The Athletic Football Show” is previewing all 32 teams leading up to the start of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the Carolina Panthers. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full NFC South preview wherever you get your podcasts.Robert Mays on what about the Panthers most excites him: The Tetairoa McMillan-Jalen Coker pairing. I think it’s a good tandem of one and two receivers. I think Coker is a good NFL receiver. Stylistically, you can move them both around. They’re big enough where you can have them play a variety of roles. They’re kind of interchangeable. Coker is a willing and capable blocker if you want to use him on some of the insert stuff. He’s a tough, rugged player. McMillan had such a great rookie year.Even if the offensive line is shifting and there’s other stuff we could talk about with the offense, those two guys being on the field for a majority of the snaps together this year in a way they weren’t last year (is big). They couldn’t use McMillan the way they wanted to last season because Coker wasn’t on the field for the first half of the year. They need Coker to be there for them to move McMillan into the slot and do all the things that they’re talking about. Coker is the guy that, in theory, can unlock McMillan in the ways that they want to. And so a full season of those two guys, that’s what I want to watch.