It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. The Carolina Panthers are entering the second year of this Matt Rhule-led rebuild and there’s still a lot of work to do before they’re ready to compete with the true heavyweights around the NFL.
According to Pro Football Focus, Carolina is only the 25th-best team in the league right now. The rankings are based on PFF’s elo ratings. The model says that the Panthers have a 1% chance of winning the Super Bowl this year. While that’s better than the handful of teams below them, it’s obviously not where this organization wants to be.
Building a contender has never been easy, especially in the salary cap era. Getting back into the playoff conversation will require some development from a few key players. However, without some significant roster upgrades at important positions – most notably quarterback, left tackle and free safety – this team isn’t likely to break into the upper half of these power rankings any time soon.
