Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales comments on suddenly-crowded WR corps

The Carolina Panthers have a pretty full wide receiver room. It's not the best in the NFL, but it has suddenly become very deep. Tetairoa McMillan, Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, Hunter Renfrow, Dan Chisena, Jimmy Horn Jr., and David Moore are all competing for the five or six spots on the roster.

Per Joe Person of The Athletic, head coach Dave Canales believes special teams will be key to who makes the team. “Special teams is going to be such a huge piece of that puzzle. How can these guys help us in the coverage units? Can they help us as a returner?” Canales said. “That’s the part where we get to challenge our guys to find a role, take this thing seriously. ‘You’re not here just to catch passes. We only get so many helmets on game day, so we need all of you guys to contribute in different ways.’”

Person believes that Thielen, McMillan, and Legette are locked in and don't stand a chance of missing the roster. Horn probably is, too, since the sixth-round pick looks poised to take on punt return duties. Renfrow, Chisena, and Moore are competing with UDFA Jacolby George for the final spot or two. Coker, given his breakout last year, is all but a lock as well, most likely.

Canales doesn't know how many spots they'll keep, but he acknowledged that the last few spots on the roster will be "very difficult" to hand out. Thielen agreed, “For the first time since I’ve been here, you look around the room and I don’t know who’s gonna make the team. And that’s a great thing,” the veteran wide receiver said.

This is a good problem to have, although it could end up meaning that some deserving player misses out and gets put on the practice squad or released, which opens them up to landing elsewhere and making an impact for another NFL team.