The 5 Carolina Panthers Sure to Surge in 2026

The 5 Carolina Panthers Sure to Surge in 2026
The reigning NFC South champions are headed in the right direction. Dave Canales’s club has five players in position to make huge impacts this upcoming season.Russell Baxter|
In this story:
Carolina PanthersThe improvment and results have been stark. The Carolina Panthers were a 2-15 football team in 2023, but are now a defending division champion, albeit with an 8-9 win-loss record.
The Panthers still haven't finished above .500 since the 2017 season and there has not been a playoff victory since the 2025 NFC title game.
However, things are certainly looking up thanks to the combination of general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales. Perhaps this is the year they snap both of those hexes.
In any case, we believe that an unsung veteran defender, a 2026 second-round pick, a pair of second-year performers, and an undrafted free agent in 2024 are primed to make their marks this upcoming season and lead Carolina to a playof win.
5. CB Mike Jackson
This pick-6 by Mike Jackson made him the fastest player this season in game speed!
— SleeperPanthers (@SleeperCarolina) January 24, 2026
A blazing speed of 20.88mph👀🔥#KeepPounding
pic.twitter.com/4Pp3ZaluxU
In 2024, Morgan swung a deal for Mike Jackson, a journeyman cornerback who had entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2019. Jackson didn’t see much playing time in his first three NFL seasons, but hasn’t missed a game the past four years.

He’s really found his niche with the Panthers. In a combined 35 starts (including playoffs) with Canales’s squad, he’s totaled seven interceptions—including a pick-six of Matthew Stafford in last season’s regular-season win over the Rams (Week 13) and 40 passes defensed.
Jackson may be on the verge of Pro Bowl honors.
4. DT Lee Hunter
Lee Hunter in 2025:
— SleeperPanthers (@SleeperCarolina) April 25, 2026
💥 50 Tackles
🤚12 TFLs
💪 2.5 Sacks
Carolina got a good one 🤞 pic.twitter.com/SgnBWYrJRN
The 2024 Panthers were lowlighted by an abysmal run defense, allowing a distressing 179.8 yards per game on the ground. They were better this past season (123.3), mainly because standout Derrick Brown was healthy (he missed all but 1 game in 2024).
Morgan made a bit of a move on Day 2 to grab Lee Hunter, the massive 6’3 1/2”, 318-pound Texas Tech defender. “Hunter projects as an early down space-eater who can make interior offensive linemen work for their gaps,” said NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein pre-draft.
He and Brown will team up to wreak havoc in the trenches.
3. WR Tetairoa McMillan

A year before the arrival of the University of Arizona product, 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette led Carolina with 49 catches, and veteran Adam Thielen totaled team highs with 615 receiving yards and five TD grabs. Tetairoa McMilla, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft became the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year with 70 receptions, good for 1,014 yards and seven scores.
After reaching the end zone just twice in his first 10 outings, McMillan scored five TDs in the team’s final seven regular-season games.
The best is be yet to come for the imposing 6’5”, 212-pound target.
2. OLB Nic Scourton

Pass and rush are obviously a pair of four-letter words, and that’s just what it’s been for these Panthers in recent years. No team in the league has amassed fewer sacks in the league (89) since 2023.
This is where OLB Nic Scourton will be impactful. Last season DC Ejiro Evero’s defense finished with a mere 30 sacks, with Scourton (a second-round pick in 2025) and Derrick Brown tying for the team lead (5.0). But Scourton showed improvement throughout the season, with all five of Scourton’s QB traps came in the final 11 games of the regular season.
Scourton will benefit greatly from the smart free-agent additions of 2025 Pro Bowler Devin Lloyd and more specifically, edge rusher Jaelan Phillips.
Expect Scourton to push toward double digit sacks in 2026.
1. WR Jalen Coker

Jalen Coker with a 52-yard catch and run!
— NFL (@NFL) January 11, 2026
LARvsCAR on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/OLgLIMiAd8
WR Jalen Coker, the former Holy Cross standout, was an undrafted free agent in 2024 who has played in exactly 11 regular-season games in each of his first two seasons. Coker missed the first six weeks of ’25 due to a quadriceps injury, but once he warmed up, he was a huge factor down the stretch, and shined in the playoffs vs. the Rams.
Including that clash with Sean McVay’s club, Coker was targeted 36 times by Bryce Young and totaled 28 receptions (77.8 catch percentage) for 378 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 13.5 yards per catch.
Coker has moved well beyond UDFA status, having just inked a three-year, $35 million contract extension.
The Panthers expect big things from this emerging wideout.
Published Jun 22, 2026
Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'

Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price subsidising their life by livestreaming

Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price look to be making their own way in the world by raking it in from their lucrative social media accounts.
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury, 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year.
Since getting married and moving in together the couple have been earning thousands of pounds a month, livestreaming their life as newlyweds in their static caravan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
And fans can't get enough of their regular life updates on TikTok and Kick, which have proved to be very profitable for the pair.
They look to be supporting themselves after Noah denied that he was given £5million by Venezuela's family as a wedding gift.
Despite his wife's huge family wealth, an estimated combined £160 million, Noah recently told his Kick followers that he 'pays for everything' for the couple.
Making light of the claims about Venezuela's millionaire financial status, Noah said: 'I actually pay for everything unfortunately. You'd expect the millionaire to pay for it wouldn't you.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are earning thousands livestreaming their caravan life - after her new groom insisted he pays all the bills and denied he had £5m handout from her dad
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury , 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year
Venezuela then asked their fans: 'Do you think I am a millionaire?'
Noah joked: 'She isn't a secret millionaire guys', before she broke into song and sang: 'But I live like a millionaire!'
But it seems according to estimated calculations from their social media work, Noah and Venezuela can more than afford to support themselves.
Noah has been livestreaming on platforms such as Kick and TikTok, where viewers can send paid gifts or donations.
He was previously encouraging viewers to send gifts on his honeymoon during livestreams, suggesting this is one revenue stream.
Both Noah and Venezuela have built substantial followings on Instagram and TikTok. They can potentially earn money through sponsored posts, brand collaborations, affiliate links and creator payouts.
Kick allows its creators to take home 95 per cent of the £4.99 subscription cost that fans pay.
Streamers keep 100 per cent of direct tips and donations, minus minor standard payment processing fees.
It is unclear how many subscribers Noah currently has because this information is hidden, but he does have 7,200 followers which is publicly viewable.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million
In one video on their honeymoon, Noah asked his followers if they'd give them some more gifts now that they were married.
In a TikTok live viewed by 20,000 he said: 'Keep liking our videos people, keep sending gifts.'
After saying thank you to several of his followers he joked they should stick around on the livestream and 'watch Venezuela punch me in the mouth'.
The other half of the honeymooning couple said: 'I am, honestly!'
Noah previously confirmed that the pair don't share their finances after they were asked whether they have a shared bank account.
'She earns her money, I earn mine,' said Noah, as Venezuela joked: 'Yeah, what you gonna do about it.'
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'.
Meanwhile Venezuela is being eyed up by executives for a fly on the wall TV series.
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'
Boasting 1.3 million TikTok followers, Venezuela is already entertaining fans with her honest musings and candid moments, from cooking to kitting out her and Noah's static caravan home.
And following the success of the Netflix series At Home With The Furys, it is no wonder bosses are wanting to draw on the Fury popularity.
A TV insider said: 'The couple are not A-list celebrities but everyone has become obsessed with their love story.
'People are genuinely intrigued by them. Whether it’s the fact they have married so young, Venezuela’s famous family or their gypsy lifestyle, they have the ‘X factor'.
'Several TV executives think a proper fly-on-the-wall series following their lives as newlyweds in the gypsy community would be fascinating,' they told The Sun.
It is thought Netflix would be likely to produce the series due to their already established relationship with the Furys.
Venezuela's representatives told The Daily Mail: 'We have many offers on the table regarding Venezuela which we are discussing.'