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What Panthers coach Dave Canales said about hotly contested WR competition

The Carolina Panthers aerial attack wasn’t a very feared entity in 2024. That could be about to change given the current talent in the wide receiver room.
Russell Baxter|
Jul 26, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) runs routes during training camp. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
Jul 26, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) runs routes during training camp. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

A lot of focus, and understandably so, on the Carolina Panthers this offseason was on fixing their deplorable defense. However, Dave Canales’s club had a few other warts as well.

Despite a late-season surge by quarterback Bryce Young, who threw for 2,104 yards and 15 touchdowns in the team’s final 10 games, only two teams in the league averaged fewer passing yards per game than Canales’s team this past season. General manager Dan Morgan added two wide receivers in April's draft (Tetairoa McMillan and Jimmy Horn Jr.) and another veteran (Hunter Renfrow) looking to make a comeback after sitting out 2024.

Currently, the Panthers have a dozen wide receivers on the roster, including returnees such as Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, David Moore, and Jalen Coker. Canales had plenty to say about his new-looking wideout group.

Dave Canales likes the variety in Panthers' wide receiver room

It is also worth remembering that Carolina was the only team in the NFL this past season who did not have a player catch at least 50 passes. Legette led the way with 49 receptions, but averaged a mere 10.1 yards per grab and scored only four touchdowns. Thielen led the team in receiving yards (615) and TD catches (5), but also played in only 10 games.


As for the newcomers, McMillan was the eighth overall pick in April’s draft and his size (6’4”, 219 pounds) gives Young an imposing target. Horn is a speedster who could help the passing attack and could also be a special teams’ demon. Renfrow was a Pro Bowler for the Raiders in 2021 but missed this past season due to illness.

Morgan has assembled quite the wide receiver room, and Canales is primed to put the right pieces in the right place. In 2024, the Panthers finished in the middle of the NFL pack with 22 scores through the air. It was an improvement from the previous season (13), and don’t be shocked if that number rises dramatically in 2025.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.