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By Matthew Davis
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The Carolina Panthers lost rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell to a knee injury on Wednesday at training camp.
It's a big loss for the Panthers as the team doesn't have the deepest of wide receiver corps. Carolina has Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette as the main wideouts, but Brazzell was a promising prospect to be a fourth wideout.
The Panthers selected Brazzell with a third-round draft pick out of Tennessee. Brazell won first team All-SEC honors last year, and he had 136 receptions for 2,072 yards and 16 touchdowns in four seasons between Tennessee and Tulane.
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Since Brazzell was carted off the field, that's a strong indication the injury is serious enough for him to need a long recovery. Carolina will now need receivers such as Jimmy Horn Jr., John Metchie III and Brycen Tremayne to step up.
Horn is a second-year wideout who only had 11 catches for 108 yards last season. Metchie has never tallied more than 33 catches, 274 yards and two touchdowns in a season during his four-year journeyman career. Tremayne, a second-year wideout, had 14 receptions for 160 yards last year.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has legitimate targets amid his first three options, but there was a big dropoff from McMillan to Coker and Legette. McMillan had 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns last year. Neither Coker nor Legette surpassed 35 receptions, 394 yards or three touchdowns last year.
Since Carolina won the NFC South last season, it behooves the Panthers to find more receiver talent before the season kicks off if needed. The Panthers need to find out in a hurry if the current receiving corps suffices without Brazzell to determine who the team should target in free agency or for a trade.
Carolina can ill afford to let a lack of receiver depth continue in 2026, after just winning the NFC South by a hair at 9-8 last year.
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