The Panthers Could Have an Underrated Gem at WR with UDFA Malick Meiga

If you're looking for a potential sleeper in the Carolina Panthers' UDFA class, look no further than Malick Meiga. The former Penn State and Coastal Carolina wideout could sneak onto the roster with a good summer.

The Panthers sign an undrafted wide receiver almost every year. In 2024, it worked brilliantly with Jalen Coker, who is now one of the better wide receivers in the entire NFL. Historically, wide receivers stand a good chance of making it as undrafted free agents.

Meiga has something that could help set him apart from the other UDFAs on the roster: supreme athleticism. It could give him a spot on the Week 1 roster a few months from now.

Malick Meiga's impressive athleticism could land him a Panthers roster spot

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Malick Meiga (80) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown | Matthew OHaren-Imagn Images

The Panthers are actually in pretty good shape at wide receiver, at least in terms of athleticism. Tetairoa McMillan didn't do much testing before the draft, so his Relative Athletic Score is incomplete. He obviously has elite size and good speed, though.

Jalen Coker did do testing as he attempted just to get drafted, and he posted a stellar 9.46 RAS. His explosive traits were exceptional, and that has been true in the NFL the last two seasons as well.

Chris Brazzell II, the latest member of the Panthers' receiving corps, did not do enough testing for a Relative Athletic Score. However, like McMillan, he has excellent size, and his speed is even better. He likely would've scored fairly well.

The forgotten man in the WR room is Xavier Legette. For all his downsides, he is still extremely athletic. He posted a RAS of 9.88 in 2024. It hasn't translated to on-field production because athleticism can't make up for poor hands or route-running, but he is an athlete.

Jimmy Horn was drafted in round 6 pick 208 in the 2025 draft class. He scored a 4.48 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 2106 out of 3816 WR from 1987 to 2025. https://t.co/gf7YgtTAeG pic.twitter.com/WPXmPUCFoZ
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 26, 2025

Aside from Jimmy Horn Jr., who posted a surprising 4.48 score, is the outlier here. However, given what we've seen from Horn on the field, he is plenty athletic. His height, weight, and agility dragged his score down, but he looks the part of an athletic wideout.

Malick Meiga has great size, length, speed, and explosion, lots of good stuff going on there. The agility testing isn't great, but I think we all learned with DK Metcalf that it only matters if you require it to succeed, so the question is if Meiga needs that or not. pic.twitter.com/5zrPHokQpo
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) May 3, 2026

Either way, there's clearly a profile the Panthers like at wide receiver. They have four big, athletic receivers on the roster. Malick Meiga is 6'4", and his athleticism is top-notch. He posted a RAS of 9.60.

Across the board, Meiga is in good shape. The only place he lacks is in agility, which is still in decent shape. His speed, size, and explosion are all great. If there's a gem on the roster, it might be Meiga.

Now, he still faces an uphill battle to make the roster. Obviously, the Panthers have a lot of wide receivers. Most of them are tall and athletic, so Meiga isn't bringing anything new to the table. Four wide receivers 6'3" or taller is a bit much, and having four would probably be overkill.

There aren't a ton of roster spots to go around, and we suspect that QB Haynes King, IDL Aaron Hall, and OL Albert Reese IV stand a better chance because of their positions, but don't sleep on Meiga.

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