'It's a very competitive room' — Panthers’ young WRs reliability in training camp and preseason are turning depth into a tough roster decision

During Friday's preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns, only one wide receiver was held out in Hunter Renfrow, who's been nursing a hamstring injury. Renfrow was back on the field this week doing some one-on-one drills and started getting back into groove.

In the meantime, two young wide receivers have continued to show out on the practice field in second-year Jalen Coker and rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. On Friday, Coker scored on a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Young while Horn finished his night with four receptions for 15 yards.

Coker's impressive play continued throughout Monday's practice, per reports, and drew some praise from his head coach afterwards.

"Jalen has really showed to be one of the more reliable guys that we have. . . He keeps showing (stuff) like that, he's going to be on the field playing," Canales said. "There's no doubt about it. That's the nature of competition, and that's what it does, is all of a sudden you see people elevate and rise and really show who they are."

As for Horn, the important thing for the rookie is continuing to show some reliability of his own and prove to the coaches that he should be on the field as well.

"Those are things that he's taken strides in," Canales added. "He's really competing. He's one of the first guys in the building. He's working the right way. It's that type of work, it's that type of development and mindset, that Jimmy has. That he wants it. That goes really far with us."

Canales added that Horn has reminded him of David Moore, another wide receiver on this roster vying for a final spot at the position.

With Renfrow back healthy, this WR competition is really going to heat up this week going into the second preseason game against the Houston Texans. We'll see who keeps on standing out.