RP Clips: Is There Room for Both Panthers Receivers?

**Matt Harmon** (0:00)
This is Reception Perception, The Show. Now, James Koh and Matt Harmon. Another spot where we're gonna find some common ground on this one. You're higher than market on both Panthers wide receivers. You are 14 spots higher than Yahoo ADP on Jalen Coker. You know you're not gonna get any argument from Ron Jalen Coker here, but you're also seven spots higher on Tetairoa McMillan based on Yahoo ADP, which I think is fascinating because in my mind, I think sometimes in the people's minds, it goes, well, if Coker is going to be, you know, relevant to some degree, or at least more relevant than his, you know, paltry Yahoo ADP right now, which is, you know, wide receiver 67, you've got him a little bit higher than that. I've got him even higher than you do. But if he's gonna be relevant that way, does that ding, does it have to ding Tetairoa McMillan or do you see a step forward for Bryce Young? So how are you kind of squaring your view of these two Panthers wide receivers right now?

**James Koh** (0:59)
I do think I see a step forward for Bryce Young this year because he's a player coming in. The physicality, he couldn't erase any mistakes as a player. He's a player that being cerebral is what allowed him to go first in the draft. And so as you're stepping into it, when you're at Alabama and you're playing with the talent that he had at Alabama, you're cerebral, you're ahead of everybody else that's going on. And physically, you've got the players around you capable of taking advantage of that. He doesn't have, Josh Allen could make the bad mistake, but because his arm talent was so good, he can erase the bad mistake later.
He didn't have that in his game. And so I think what we're seeing now in the early reports out of Panthers camp seemed to indicate that finally the mental slide has slowed down to the point where Bryce Young knows what he's seeing pre-snap. He knows where he's gonna have to go with this.
And the offense is getting comfortable and utilizing him in there because he's a player that, that's how his path to success is going to have to happen. He's not going to be arm strength, running out of a situation. It's just while he does have mobility, he's not breaking in and tackles anytime soon. And so I think he's getting there on the mental game that's gonna allow for that a little bit. And I think the other part of it is who else is there? I mean, at some level it's, I hate playing that game of, well, somebody's gotta catch it. But I think Coker's talented enough. We've seen it where he can demand, he can command and he can carry that through. And so I think where you get in trouble with playing the who else is there game is the player doesn't meet a certain talent level to be able to accept that as the answer. And usually in those situations, sometimes zero is the answer. Whereas I do think that Coker, I mean, he's a player. I remember watching the Holy Cross film or what you could find of the Holy Cross film. And it was just, it was like seven Hail Marys that he caught throughout the year. And it's like guys are not doing this. Even relative to the competition, guys are not catching seven Hail Marys over the course of their senior season. And so I think seeing that ball skills, and I think the thing that fascinates me the most about Coker in particular, is that we haven't really, the thing that stood out as a prospect is his ability to go up, play the ball in the air, play the ball vertically. He's not really showcased that a ton at the NFL level. We've utilized him more in a different skill set there. And so that's where I'm like, we can talk about the real football side of it. I'm always so fascinated on receivers that you can utilize them in different areas of the field, or what you think is the primary skill set actually, and doesn't even end up being the primary skill set because they're also really good at this area. And so I think that Coker and Tetairoa McMillan, I just see them separating themselves from the rest of that receiver room. I see Bryce Young just bumping that up. I don't think Bryce Young is going to throw for 150 yards per game this year for the rest of his career. And so I think that fundamentally, if you raise that potential floor, create a larger pie here, and recognize that there's really just two players lined up to eat out of this. I mean, bringing Daryl and Waller in, it answers to some level maybe their tight end room, but it also is because the wide receivers pretty rough right now. And I think Waller is about the path to potentially answering, not even answering, but having a potential solution for both of those. And as we see Chris Brazel, they had that season ending injury. I think Brazel was the hope that would unlock a lot of this offense, having him out of there. I'm not doing the Xavier LeGette thing again. And I think Jimmy Horn Jr., I mean, there's limitations on what he's going to offer within the offense. You could really see a really hyper consolidated attack here.