The good people at Pro Football Focus spend enormous amounts of time breaking down every player’s performance on every individual play throughout the season. In the end, players can then be given a final rating somewhere between zero (poor) and 100 (elite). If you want to learn more about their methodology, you can read PFF’s Player Grade overview.

What I have always appreciated about PFF is that while no player evaluation system is perfect, at least PFF is consistent. Players are graded by the same criteria which enables them to be given a rating for their specific position. Based on free, public data available at Pro Football Focus here are the 2019 final ratings for the Carolina Panthers key offensive contributors.

Final 2019 PFF grades - offense Name Pos PFF Grade Games Off Snaps Off Snap % Name Pos PFF Grade Games Off Snaps Off Snap % Kyle Allen QB 49.7 13 885 80% Christian McCaffrey HB 86.8 16 1039 93% DJ Moore WR 82.2 15 910 82% Curtis Samuel WR 62.7 16 955 86% Jarius Wright WR 47.8 16 693 62% Greg Olsen TE 66.8 14 790 71% Chris Manhertz TE 61.9 15 341 31% Ian Thomas TE 51.8 16 302 27% Matt Paradis C 63.5 16 1094 98% Greg Van Roten G 65.6 11 705 63% Trai Turner G 63.9 13 888 80% Taylor Moton T 76.0 16 1107 99% Dennis Daley T 58.3 14 686 62% Daryl Williams T 56.1 16 839 75% Greg Little T 52.7 4 224 20%

Based on PFF’s ratings, here are some of the key takeaways from a 2019 Panthers offense that finished ranked 20th with 21.3 points per game.

Quarterback and running back - Kyle Allen (49.7) had the second worst PFF rating among Panthers offensive players, so in case you were wondering he’s not the quarterback of the future. Meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey (86.6) had the highest PFF rating on the Panthers offense and second highest in the league for his position.

Wide receivers and tight ends - DJ Moore’s outstanding 82.2 rating underscores his truly special season while Curtis Samuel’s 62.7 shows he’s also coming into his own. Somewhat surprisingly, Jarius Wright’s 47.8 rating was the worst among all Panthers offensive players. Greg Olsen (66.8) was solid, Chris Manhertz (61.9) must have blocked in a way that resonated with PFF, while Ian Thomas (51.8) had a bad year by PFF standards. The fact Ian Thomas, a young and developing tight end, only saw 302 snaps in 16 games is still galling to me.

Offensive line - This is where it gets ugly, my friends. Per PFF, Matt Paradis (63.5) gave up the most quarterback pressures in the league for his position. Guards Greg Van Roten (65.6) and Trai Turner (63.9) had PFF ratings that are traditionally considered as “average.” Tackles Dennis Daley (58.3), Daryl Williams (56.1), and Greg Little (52.7) fell anywhere between “meh” and “not good.” The lone bright spot on the offensive line was Taylor Moton’s 76.0 grade.

The good news for the Panthers offense is their three best players are very young, so the foundation is there for a brighter future. DJ Moore is 22, Christian McCaffrey is 23, and Taylor Moton is 25. Curtis Samuel didn’t quite have the breakout season many were hoping for, but he’s still just 23. While rookies Greg Little and Dennis Daley underwhelmed, they gained valuable experience in their first NFL seasons. The cupboard isn’t bare. All we need is a healthy Cam Newton and a more innovative coach in Matt Rhule and 2020 should look a lot better than 2019.