When it comes to helping Bryce Young maximize his potential in Dave Canales’ offense, there isn’t a more important position than wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. First-year general manager Dan Morgan has a big offseason ahead, one that will include several additions to the team, but the work kicks into high gear for the NFL Scouting Combine.
Related: NFL Combine 2024: Participants, dates, event info, drills and everything you need to know
Morgan and his team of scouts will be evaluating all the draft prospects closely, but perhaps none more so than the wide receivers. Here’s a list of five receivers Panthers fans should pay special attention to on Saturday, March 2, when receivers perform athletic drills such as the 40-yard dash and several others.
Related: Carolina Panthers draft picks 2024
Troy Franklin has No. 1 WR potential for Panthers
Adam Thielen will still be a reliable target for Bryce Young next season, but the Carolina Panthers need more high-end talent capable of taking a game over. Oregon’s Troy Franklin, who’s listed at 6-foot-3, 187 pounds, showed he’s plenty capable of being a playmaker during his breakout senior season with the Ducks.
Franklin set new career highs catching passes from Bo Nix, topping 100 receiving yards in 8-of-13 games played in 2023. While Franklin has impressive size, he didn’t use it often enough in college.
Yet, what’s fascinating about him is his elite speed and ability to rack up yards after the catch. Both rare traits for a player his size. Franklin should wow when given a chance to show his crisp route-running skills, and if he clocks a fast time in the 40-yard dash, the Panthers might even have to trade up to pick Franklin at the end of the first round.
Future Kansas City Chief Troy Franklin is my WR4 in this 2024 class pic.twitter.com/w4gjiymRtp
— David Mendelson (@DMendy02) February 21, 2024
Related: 3 moves Carolina Panthers should make after hiring Dave Canales
Keon Coleman has size, and he uses it well
While it shouldn’t be the top priority during the evaluation process, adding more size to the Panthers’ receiver room has to be heavily considered, giving Young a large target to aim for in the red zone. If so, Keon Coleman would be a good target.
Like Franklin, he’s tall (6-foot-4), but he also has the strength to win 50-50 balls and haul in catches in traffic. Yet, Coleman doesn’t have the same top-flight speed that a few of his peers have in this draft class.
Yet, as we’ve seen with several others (Stefon Diggs, Justin Jefferson), you don’t have to be a burner to be one of the NFL’s best receivers. With his size and ability, it’s not hard to see Coleman making a major impact as a rookie in Carolina.
Related: 3 Carolina Panthers offseason moves to help Bryce Young live up to draft status
Xavier Worthy may be fastest receiver in 2024 NFL Draft class
If the Carolina Panthers are prioritizing speed, there may not be a better target than Texas’s Xavier Worthy. He’s built like Marquise Brown, or I guess like Bryce Young, in that he’s not physically gifted with size, but when given a chance to run, he pounces like a Panther.
XAVIER WORTHY IS VERY FAST.
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 9, 2021
(Via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/b7sIbCv5go
It’s like watching roadrunner take off, and even at 6-foot-1 and 172 pounds, Worthy’s size isn’t necessarily a problem by any means. That’s NFL size, and even enough to be an outside receiver, if the talent checks out.
Yet, as we see with Tyreek Hill, if you can outrun everyone else, you don’t have to have the best hands or be the sharpest route-runner. Worthy’s like that, he can make up for other perceived faults with his pure speed, but his route-running might surprise you, in a good way.
Can Brian Thomas Jr. be what Terrace Marshall wasn’t?
Here’s a 6-foot-4, 205-pound freak from the college football wide receiver factory known as the LSU Tigers. Sounds enticing? Probably not to Carolina Panthers fans who are still waiting for Terrace Marshall Jr.’s breakout season.
Brian Thomas Jr. may not be of the same cloth as the star LSU receivers who came before him, but it’s possible he comes closer to Ja’Marr Chase’s production levels than Marshall’s. He has more than enough size to play all three receiver positions and the speed to back it up, too.
Thomas has also displayed moments of star-level route-running ability, just not consistently enough. But with that size and that speed, he’s a player worth taking a chance on if Thomas is still available at pick No. 33.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) February 22, 2024
PLUSES
— He's creeping death on go and seam routes; nice build-up speed, and then whammo — he's gone.
— Extensive library of foot fakes both at the LOS and when in open space; he knows how to get open.
— Leans into and out of his routes to create… pic.twitter.com/IMZw0oxm85
Rome Odunze tops scale of Carolina Panthers WR prospects to scout
Dream with me here Carolina Panthers fans. We know the chances of Rome Odunze slipping to the Panthers’ first pick at No. 33 are slim to none. But if the front office is serious about helping Bryce Young make major strides in his second season, they won’t be afraid to trade up for a player they believe can be a difference-maker.
While he’s not viewed as the very best receiver prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class (Marvin Harrison Jr.), Odunze is in the very next tier, with many placing only LSU’s Malik Nabers ahead of him. Like the rest of Washington’s offense, Odunze disappeared (by his standards) in crunch time during the College Football National Championship, hauling in five catches for 87 yards, but he was excellent his past two seasons.
Odunze had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, but his junior year saw him breakout to the tune of 1,640 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Odunze profiles as a No. 1 receiver, but as mentioned, the Panthers would very likely have to trade into the top half of the first round to add the former Huskies receiver to the team.
Yet, if Odunze impresses enough during the NFL Scouting Combine, who’s to say the Panthers won’t have him as one of the top-ranked prospects on their draft board? If so, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Panthers do what it takes to trade up for the player they want for the second year in a row, even if there’s a new decision-maker in charge.
Rome Odunze, WR, Washington
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) February 22, 2024
PLUSES
— Contested-catch monster who seems to welcome converging DBs and close-in situations
— Arm-tackling him is an exercise in futility; you'd better wrap him up after the catch
— "Drifts" really well on posts and fades and has late hands to… pic.twitter.com/bl2wtWzEtJ