Jalen Coker’s rise in Carolina has become one of the more encouraging developments on the Panthers’ roster, and it’s starting to draw real attention beyond Charlotte.
Last week, Daire Carragher of Pro Football Focus put together an all-undrafted team for 2026, and Coker landed on it as one of three wide receivers. He was grouped with Jacksonville’s Jakobi Meyers and Seattle speedster Rashid Shaheed, a nod to how far the Holy Cross alum has come in a short time.
Carragher pointed to Coker’s second-year jump, writing, “The Holy Cross alum took a small but steady step forward in Year 2,” explained Carragher, “with 10 more receptions, two additional touchdowns and an increase in receiving grade from 73.8 to 75.3. Coker’s size is his greatest gift. Thanks to his 6’3” frame, he hauled in nine catches in traffic on just eleven contested opportunities last season.”
That growth showed up in the numbers. As a rookie in 2024, Coker appeared in 11 regular-season games and started four times.
He was targeted 46 times, caught 32 passes for 478 yards, averaged 14.9 yards per grab, and scored twice. His catch rate that year sat at 69.6 percent.
His second season started slowly because he missed the first six games of 2025, but once he got back on the field, he settled in as a legitimate option alongside 2025 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan.
Over Carolina’s final 12 games of 2025, including the playoff meeting with the Los Angeles Rams, Coker was targeted 55 times and finished with 42 receptions for 528 yards, a 12.6-yard average, and four touchdowns. In that stretch, he caught 76.4 percent of his targets.
The playoff game against Los Angeles was a big part of that late-season surge. Coker delivered nine catches for 134 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in Carolina’s 34-31 home loss to the Rams.
By the end of the season, Coker and McMillan had formed one of the league’s better receiving tandems, and their production made life easier for Bryce Young. With offensive coordinator Brad Idzik taking over the play-calling duties, Carolina’s passing game could take on an even bigger role. Coker’s second-year leap already stands out, and the next question is what he can do if he gets a full season to work with.
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On his podcast, Cam Newton focused less on nostalgia and more on what comes next for the NFL and the people who played in it. Newton said he is very intrigued to see how the league responds and what its plan is to make the game safer while better protecting former players, a question that has only grown louder as more ex-NFL players have dealt with ALS. For Carolina fans, it was a reminder that the conversation around footballs toll does not end when a players career does. [Read more 🡒]