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Fan-favorite WR may be in danger of losing his spot on Panthers' roster
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- Fan-favorite WR may be in danger of losing his spot on Panthers' roster
After Tetaiora McMillan, the most popular rookie amongst Carolina Panthers fans in 2025 may have been fellow wideout Jimmy Horn Jr. A sixth-round draft pick out of Colorado, Horn might've carried over a sizable following from Boulder to Charlotte last spring.
Horn is inarguably the buzziest Panthers player who's yet to see a real chunk of playing time. The little action he did see at the end of the season was promising, showing he even had a penchant for making catches in clutch situations.
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While Horn looked relatively solid during his burn, he may have his work cut out for him to stay on the 53-man roster in 2026. That may be no fault of his own, though.
As Joe Person at The Athletic points out , the Panthers are looking awfully crowded at the receiver position after adding John Metchie III in free agency and Chris Brazzell II in the NFL draft. Person wrote the following of Horn's stock earlier this week:
Horn, last year's sixth-round pick, didn't have a bad spring. But his place on the depth chart became a little tenuous with the additions of Chris Brazzell (third-round pick from Tennessee ) and John Metchie (free agent) and the return of veteran David Moore , who didn't play last season after blowing out his elbow in a Week 4 loss at the New England Patriots . Metchie has the benefit of having played with Young at Alabama, while the Panthers hope Brazzell can be a home-run threat. Horn caught 11 passes for 108 yards as a rookie, and only played five special-teams snaps all season.
The Panthers typically have carried six wide receivers on their roster in the past. We can safely assume that McMillan, Jalen Coker , Xavier Legette and Brazzell have their spots lined up.
If head coach Dave Canales keeps Moore on, as expected, that'll knock off another opening. Brycen Tremayne and Dan Chisena , given their size and abilities on special teams, could also pose threats at the end of the pecking order.
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Horn, at the least, should be guaranteed a spot due to his speed and prowess in the return game—an area the Panthers have long struggled in. Horn was an excellent returner at Colorado and South Florida before that, totaling 716 yards and a touchdown on 33 kickoff returns and another 90 yards on 14 punt returns.
Meanwhile, the Panthers' return game in 2025 was led by running back Trevor Etienne , who had difficulties—at times—getting the role down. His most notable mistake came on the muffed punt in Carolina's wild-card round matchup against the Los Angeles Rams in January.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers offseason: WR Jimmy Horn Jr. could lose roster spot in 2026
