The connection between quarterback Bryce Young and tight end Darren Waller has been automatic for the Carolina Panthers in the red zone during the first two games of the 2026 regular season. And as the Panthers continue to put up points (they’ve scored 71!), Waller is at the heart of their red zone plans.
The veteran (6-foot-6 and 238 pounds) has towered over opposing defensive backs, particularly in the end zone. While he had a Week 1 touchdown catch called back for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty against the Chicago Bears, Waller snagged both of his Week 2 red zone targets from Young for two touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons.
“Big people win,” former Panthers QB Jake Delhomme, who now serves as a color commentator for the team’s radio broadcasts, told ESPN. “Big people -- there’s not many walking around this earth, right? Like [defensive end] Derrick Brown, there’s not many walking around the earth like that. And when you have them, they help. ... The same thing with Waller, and [Falcons cornerback] C.J. Henderson [listed as 6-1] is not a small guy, and he made him look like he was like 5-9 on the touchdown in the corner right before half.”
Waller, who signed a one-year deal with the Panthers in August, skipped the bulk of training camp and the entirety of the preseason as he got up to speed with Carolina’s playbook. But since hitting the field for his Week 1 debut, the 34-year-old has hauled in all five of his targets for 61 yards and the two TDs. He has provided the Panthers with scoring opportunities they might not have had otherwise, and that has made him an intriguing option both in reality and in fantasy football.
Since coming out of retirement to play in nine games for the Miami Dolphins last season, Waller has run 37 routes in the red zone for Miami and Carolina in 11 total games. He has caught eight of his nine targets in the red zone for 62 yards and eight touchdowns. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Waller has 3.8 receptions over expected in the red zone (a stat that measures the difficulty against the completion probability for each catch), which is second only to San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (5.3) from the start of the 2025 season through the first two games of 2026.
“I feel like, last year with Miami, getting there kind of late -- I got there earlier than I got here -- but just kind of dealing with trying to learn things quickly and try get in the mix, I feel like kind of gave me a little bit of a trial run of how to approach things and be as efficient as possible as far as learning and getting on the same page with the quarterback and things like that,” Waller said in an interview with ESPN’s “Unsportsmanlike” on Wednesday.
“So, I’m not really that surprised [by the early success in Carolina]. I feel like if I get some opportunities, I’m just going to try to make a play and keep it simple like that.”
Following Sunday’s 34-3 win against the Falcons, Panthers coach Dave Canales acknowledged Waller’s impact on the passing game, particularly with how he helps everyone else around him. On the Panthers’ first touchdown against Atlanta, Waller drew two defenders, which created a delay in coverage that got running back Chuba Hubbard wide open for a touchdown in the flat.
Canales said finding those mismatches was part of the reason the Panthers signed the towering tight end.
“Just the ability to take advantage of matchups with safeties, with linebackers,” Canales said. “That’s exactly the type of impact that he can have on this offense. Then it opens other things up, and we got all these other beautiful players sitting on the other side of the field as well to be able to distribute it and create a little bit more balance in our pass game.”
Young, who has thrown for 648 yards, six touchdowns and one interception to start the season, has confidence in the experienced pass catcher. The QB’s chemistry with the tight end is based in communication and trust in Waller’s experience.
“Yeah, Waller’s played so much ball,” Young said Sunday. “So, obviously, he’s a pro. It’s been great coming in -- us getting on the same page quickly has been just a lot of conversation. A lot of him asking questions. A lot of him telling me the stuff that he likes and vice versa. Being able to have a guy that’s played so much ball that I trust, it’s great.”
On Sunday, the Panthers (1-1) will play at the Cleveland Browns (1-1), who have allowed eight catches for 70 yards and a touchdown to tight ends over the past two weeks. While that production isn’t particularly notable, Waller is a very different player compared to the likes of Cleveland’s previous tight end matchups in Jacksonville’s Brenton Strange and Tampa Bay’s Cade Otton.
Waller is quicker than both players, and his background comes with a bit more route-running prowess as well.
“I’ve never made my career off of: ‘I need a certain amount of targets or opportunities,’” Waller said Sunday. “It’s more so like, ‘What’s the impact I’m making with those [targets], and then can I also have an impact when the ball is not coming to me to just keep myself engaged?’ But you never know when opportunities are going to come. So, just to be able to make those plays, I think, is important.”
Young has thrown six touchdown passes to three different players over the past two weeks. Wide receiver Jalen Coker has two TD catches; Hubbard and Waller also have two apiece.
In 2025, Young threw eight touchdown passes to tight ends and running backs over 16 games. In his first two games this season, he has already tossed four to those positions, which is a trend the Panthers should be able to take advantage of in the red zone.
Waller ranks 10th among tight ends in ESPN PPR fantasy points through the first two weeks of the season. As of late Wednesday afternoon, Waller is rostered in 7.6% of ESPN leagues, a jump from the 2.9% of rosters he was on entering this week. And according to ESPN Fantasy, tight ends Dalton Schultz, Dalton Kincaid and Oronde Gadsden have been added to rosters more than Waller at the midway point of Week 3.
Regardless of what Waller’s production will look like in Week 3, the tight end’s chemistry with Young is a trend fantasy football users should keep a close eye on in the coming weeks.
