The Carolina Panthers don’t have a clear No. 1 receiver entering the 2023 season. But that might not necessarily be a bad thing.
In fact, it may be actually a good thing.
Wideout Adam Thielen spoke with reporters via Zoom on Thursday, right around the time the team’s second joint practice with the New York Jets would’ve ended. And the 10-year veteran praised his peers again, stating that the Panthers offense may not need a clear pecking order of passing targets to succeed.
Adam Thielen says he's not just being politically correct when he says the best offenses he's seen don't necessarily have a No. 1, No. 2, etc.
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) August 10, 2023
The former two-time Pro Bowler had a similar sentiment back in June.
“I think this is a talented group,” he said during mandatory minicamp. “It’s not just one or two guys. I think it’s a group effort. We’re able to really put a lot of guys in there and not miss a beat. That doesn’t happen in the NFL. That just doesn’t. Usually, you can see a drop-off when you go to the 2’s and you go to the 3’s—usually, you see a little bit of a drop-off. I haven’t felt that here. So I think that’s a really cool thing and that says a lot about this group and this team.”
In many cases, an offense that lacks an established group of receivers lacks production. And Carolina’s case—which features a rookie quarterback whose top targets include another rookie, a former second-round pick who has yet to emerge, an oft-injured veteran and a soon-to-be 33-year-old—could fall into that fate.
But if they have the right point guard under center (and we all know they think they do), the Panthers could buck the trend.
