The most promising second-year wide receiver on the Carolina Panthers’ roster may not even be the one they took in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. Heck, this guy didn’t even get drafted.
Pro Football Focus analyst Jonathon Macri recently named the most underrated player for each team heading into the 2025 season. He tabs Jalen Coker for the Panthers, who might’ve found themselves quite a gem right after last year’s selection process.
Macri writes:
The Panthers spent a first-round pick on wide receiver Xavier Legette last offseason and only scooped up Coker as an undrafted free agent. The expectation for Legette to be the most effective receiver wasn’t unreasonable, though Coker consistently looked like the better option in 2024. He ranked fourth among qualifying rookie wide receivers in yards per route run (1.72) on the year.
Coker finished with a 73.8 PFF receiving grade, which was also a top-five mark among rookie receivers. He delivered 478 receiving yards on just 45 targets — just over half as many targets as Legette, who finished with a 59.4 PFF receiving grade and 497 yards.
Coker also averaged a team-leading 14.9 yards per reception as a rookie—beating out the likes of Legette (10.1), Adam Thielen (12.8) and, on a more temporary basis, Diontae Johnson (11.9)
Between Carolina’s latest first-round choice in fellow receiver Tetairoa McMillan, their hopes of improvement for Legette and Thielen’s prominent role in the passing game, Coker may not even hit those same numbers as a sophomore. But if he’s as good as many believe, then the Panthers could have themselves quite the depth at the wideout position.
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