CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are setting a record before they even take the field this weekend, and it's one they hope helps them build for years to come.

Of the 53-man active roster they're taking to Jacksonville, 12 of them are rookies, the most the Panthers have ever carried into a regular season in 31 years of business.

That breaks the previous record of 10, which happened in three seasons.

That's also nearly a quarter of the roster (22.6 percent), and part of a deliberate effort by general manager Dan Morgan to make this team more sustainable. Of the 53 players on the roster entering Sunday's game against the Jaguars, 40 have been acquired in the last two seasons when Morgan was GM (and only seven predate his arrival in June 2021 as assistant GM).

"We definitely wanted to get younger," Morgan said. "More of a younger team and build a really solid core for the future."

For Morgan, a man of few words back to his playing days, it's as simple as that.

When you go back to the first day of free agency and they signed five contributors on defense, the oldest of which was 28-year-old linebacker Christian Rozeboom, it was a signal. Along with 27-year-old Tershawn Wharton, 26-year-olds Tre'von Moehrig and Patrick Jones II, and 25-year-old Bobby Brown III (who is actually younger than some of their rookies), it does become clear that this is all on purpose.

"I think just getting as young and healthy as we can get, not bringing guys in that have a history of injuries, I think that's how you build a young core," Morgan said. "You obviously need to mix some veterans in here and there for the leadership, and obviously, they have to be good players too. But that's what you want."

The Panthers only have eight players on the roster who have reached their 30th birthday. And that group includes 39-year-old long snapper JJ Jansen, 37-year-old backup quarterback Andy Dalton, and 35-year-old punter Sam Martin. With respect to that group of elders' athleticism, those are positions where you can afford to be old.

Otherwise, right tackle Taylor Moton (31), center Austin Corbett (30), wideout David Moore (30), defensive end A'Shawn Robinson (30), and safety Nick Scott (30) are guys still playing at a high level, who also bring experience to their groups. Moore is the shepherd for a young group of wideouts, Scott starts on defense and lends ballast to a special teams group that saw a lot of turnover this offseason, and Moton, Corbett, and Robinson are starters and leaders of their respective groups as well.

And having the right blend of older players is important.

But clearly, they're thinking long-term with this project.

Morgan is not, by nature, a patient man. But between his experiences here as a player and his time with the Seahawks front office as they built a Super Bowl winner, he has seen the value of building around youth.

When he was drafted by the Panthers in 2001 — part of one of the two or three best draft classes in franchise history — that team was in transition, from the veteran-led teams of coach George Seifert (who was always bringing in former players from his San Francisco days, many of whom were past their primes) to the John Fox era.

He also saw the value of developing players. The year after he arrived, they used a third-round pick on linebacker Will Witherspoon, who didn't have an immediate starting job available behind Morgan, Mark Fields, and the reliable Hannibal Navies.

Witherspoon turned 22 during his rookie training camp and quickly developed into a player who started in the Super Bowl a year later.

"I mean Will Witherspoon was young and really raw, but you know they played him, and they developed him," Morgan said. "And then he turned out to be a really good linebacker for us."

Of course, you can't just stack a bunch of young players and call it a success. You have to draft well for it to matter in a meaningful way.

This year's 12 rookies top the previous record of 10 set three times, in 2007, 2010, and 2021. And large numbers of rookies tend to happen at times of change.

That 2007 class included draft picks who were part of multiple playoff teams in Jon Beason, Ryan Kalil, and Charles Johnson. (They also kept three undrafted rookies that year, including a solid backup quarterback in Matt Moore.)

But the 2010 draft class was less successful, with few players who survived the post-lockout transition from Fox to Ron Rivera.

The 2021 class is still central here, as four players from that group have signed second contracts here and remain part of the core (in Jaycee Horn, Chuba Hubbard, Tommy Tremble, and Brady Christensen).

Most rookies on opening week roster, Panthers franchise history

So for the last two years, building through those draft classes and handing them to Dave Canales and his staff to develop is a formula Morgan clearly wants to follow.

All eight of this year's draft picks remain on the 53-man roster, along with five of last year's. Running back Jonathon Brooks remains on the physically unable to perform list because of last year's knee injury, and they traded seventh-rounder Michael Barrett for starting cornerback Mike Jackson.

"I think it's just the evaluation process," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. "Dan does a fantastic job of educating his staff for the types of players that we're looking for, the football character, the personal character, certainly the physical attributes, toughness, and all those things. But we have a play-style here. Those are the things we're looking for and counting on, and those guys showed those things throughout the offseason and camp when we were able to have them.

"And we'd love to build our team that way, with players who we hand-pick that fit these profiles. And then we will develop the football part of it as they grow up right in front of our eyes. So, really excited about the last two classes and the guys we have here."

The Panthers have also layered in a number of players who might not have immediate roles, but could develop. That includes players such as Jimmy Horn Jr. and wideout Dalevon Campbell, who might not contribute immediately (or even be active on gamedays at first). Horn had an excellent camp, but is part of a room full of first-rounders and vets like Hunter. Campbell is a raw project, a big-bodied receiver who caught seven passes for 135 yards (19.3 per reception) in the preseason with the Chargers. (Likewise, rookie defensive tackle Cam Jackson's role is likely to be eventual, after fortifying the line with free agents and the return of Derrick Brown this year.)

But that receiver room begins with the first-rounders, and when Canales talks about developing players like 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette and this year's No. 8 overall pick Tetairoa McMillan, his eyes light up.

"I've just watched him attack every day and take the information he's been given and master it," Canales said of McMillan. "He's done a great job mentally, being focused in on where to line up, how to execute the route, lots of conversations with Bryce, a lot of growth there.

"And then from here it's just about stacking days, stacking techniques, seeing different coverages. Now, as we go through a season, he's going to see different types of DBs, different types of techniques than we've seen in practice, and so every week is going to be so valuable for TMac to just learn to grow and to just continue to grow and adjust his game."

That growth is what they're looking for this season.

And that's why going younger — to a degree the franchise hasn't previously — was very much on purpose.