- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,193,513
- Reaction score
- 59
The Carolina Panthers have had some solid individual wide receivers come and go in the post-Steve Smith era. DJ Moore and Adam Thielen come to mind first as strong No. 1 options, but never really had a good depth chart behind them that would force opponents to take the passing game seriously.
Going into last season, that was supposed to be different—but Carolina didn't get the expected improvement from 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette and saw Jalen Coker miss some games. That left 2025 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan with a heavy workload, recording nearly 60 more targets than the next closest Panther.
If it's going change this year, then the burden could—in part—fall on the shoulders of 2026 third-round pick Chris Brazzell II. The good news is that Brazzell impressed observers during the spring, and he doesn't seem to be taking things lightly during his summer break, either.
Here's a highlight reel that Brazzell shared on Instagram this weekend . . .
Brazzell will likely start out as the No. 4 wideout on Carolina's depth chart—behind McMillan, Coker and Legette. His quickest path to playing time will be nailing the fundamentals that have eluded Legette to date and proving that he's a better deep target for quarterback Bryce Young.
On that score, Young seems to like what he's seen from the first-team All-SEC pass catcher thus far.
"You would've thought he'd been in a pro-style system throughout his whole life," Young said of Brazzell during mandatory minicamp. "He's coming in understanding splits, understanding landmarks, understanding route timing, route tempo, where to be at the right time. So I've been super impressed with his professionalism, the ability to do stuff, the ability for everything to translate."
The 6-foot-4 receiver reeled in 62 catches for 1,017 yards and a conference-leading nine touchdowns for Tennessee in 2025.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers rookie WR shares his offseason work in highlight tape
Continue reading...
Going into last season, that was supposed to be different—but Carolina didn't get the expected improvement from 2024 first-rounder Xavier Legette and saw Jalen Coker miss some games. That left 2025 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan with a heavy workload, recording nearly 60 more targets than the next closest Panther.
If it's going change this year, then the burden could—in part—fall on the shoulders of 2026 third-round pick Chris Brazzell II. The good news is that Brazzell impressed observers during the spring, and he doesn't seem to be taking things lightly during his summer break, either.
Here's a highlight reel that Brazzell shared on Instagram this weekend . . .
Brazzell will likely start out as the No. 4 wideout on Carolina's depth chart—behind McMillan, Coker and Legette. His quickest path to playing time will be nailing the fundamentals that have eluded Legette to date and proving that he's a better deep target for quarterback Bryce Young.
On that score, Young seems to like what he's seen from the first-team All-SEC pass catcher thus far.
"You would've thought he'd been in a pro-style system throughout his whole life," Young said of Brazzell during mandatory minicamp. "He's coming in understanding splits, understanding landmarks, understanding route timing, route tempo, where to be at the right time. So I've been super impressed with his professionalism, the ability to do stuff, the ability for everything to translate."
The 6-foot-4 receiver reeled in 62 catches for 1,017 yards and a conference-leading nine touchdowns for Tennessee in 2025.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers rookie WR shares his offseason work in highlight tape
Continue reading...
