What will the Panthers tight end receiving production look like in 2026?
Receiving production hasn't been a calling card for the Panthers tight end room in a long time. Will that change in 2026?
The NFL still played 16 regular season games the last time a Carolina Panthers tight end received more than 50 targets in a season.
Targets are merely an opportunity to catch a pass. We’re not even talking about actual receptions.
The league shifted to a 17 game regular season schedule in 2021. For those that are mathematically inclined, that was five years ago.
Greg Olsen was the last Panthers tight end to earn more than 50 targets in a season. He had 82 targets in his final season with the team in 2019.
Since Olsen was released in January 2020, the closest a Panther has gotten to the 50 target mark was Ja’Tavion Sanders, who had 43 during his rookie season in 2024.
Tommy Tremble led the Panthers with 37 targets during the 2025 season, followed by Sanders with 34 and 25 from rookie Mitchell Evans.
Last season, 40 tight ends earned more targets than Tremble, the Panthers leader in that category. Eight teams had two tight ends that earned more targets than any Panther. The Steelers had three tight ends earn more targets than any Panther in 2025.
Six other teams did not have a tight end hit 50 targets in 2025. Those teams were Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, and Miami.
Injuries to Sam LaPorta, Tucker Kraft and Darren Waller prevented Detroit, Green Bay and Miami (likely) from reaching the 50 target mark for an individual. Buffalo had two tight ends earn 49 targets each while Cincinnati’s top two tight ends had 42 and 41 respectively.
Will a Panther hit the 50 target mark in 2026? To get to 50, a player would need to average 2.94 targets per game.
The Panthers ask a lot of their tight ends and they don’t want a one trick pony at the position. At the 2025 NFL Combine, Head Coach Dave Canales said this about what he wants in his tight end group per Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer:
“Versatility and toughness, first and foremost. We’re going to run the ball, so we certainly can’t just take receiving tight ends who give you no value in the run game. At a minimum, this has to be a guy that’s really tough. It doesn’t mean that he’s got to be the 260-pound bruiser that plays in-line. Those guys are cool, too, but if he’s going to be 235 pounds, he has to play with the level of violence because we are going to run the ball a lot. So the versatility is really important for me at the tight end.”
Tremble is the seasoned veteran of this group and does the things Canales spoke of. He had 27 catches for 249 yards and two TD’s while playing 56.9% of the Panthers snaps. The receiving yards and snap percentage were career highs. He also had a career long reception of 54 yards, which accounted for 21.7 percent of his receiving production last season.
Tremble is athletic and reliable. He has played 16 or 17 games in all but one season since entering the league in 2021.
He is the No. 1 tight end on the Panthers depth chart.
Sanders, the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart, missed four games due to ankle injuries. He suffered a sprained ankle in week 3 which caused him to miss the next three weeks and then broke his ankle in the second to last game of the season. Despite missing four games, Sanders still led the Panthers with 29 catches and added 190 receiving yards and 1 TD while playing 35.7% of the team’s offensive snaps.
Sanders likely would’ve surprised his rookie season reception total if not for the injuries.
The No. 3 tight end saw action in all 17 games as a rookie. Evans 19 receptions for 171 yards and 2 TD’s while playing 34.3% of the snaps. Evans had the game winning touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. That is not a bad season for a fifth round rookie.
With a much more difficult schedule, perhaps the Panthers are forced to pass more.
Canales gave up play calling duties to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik during the offseason.
Will the change at play caller lead to a Panthers tight end getting more than 50 targets?
That remains to be seen. The Panthers certainly believe in this group as their only offseason addition to the tight end room was to bring back Feleipe Franks.
Having a reliable tight end is always a great thing for a quarterback to have. When the NFL lockout was lifted in 2011, the first thing then Panthers general manager did was sign Jeremy Shockey and trade for Olsen.
If the Panthers play similar to what they did the previous two years, it may be a challenge for one of the tight ends to hit that 50 target mark.
But if they do pass more, it would be great for them to see one of these tight ends make the leap.