It was okay that the Carolina Panthers went 8-9 in the 2025 season, because of how they finished. They very nearly beat the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, in a 34-31 nailbiter that came down to the final 30 seconds. Quarterback Bryce Young was better in the second half of the season, no longer looking like the guy head coach Dave Canales had to bench for his own good in 2024. Tetairoa McMillan was the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the tape showed why — especially when
McMillan broke down said tape.
A team that had won just seven total games in the 2023 and 2024 seasons looked like a different beast in 2025, and there are reasons to be very encouraged about the future. Signing veteran EDGE Jaelan Phillips to a four-year, $120 million contract was a serious statement, and signing linebacker Devin Lloyd to a three-year, $45 million contract with $25 million guaranteed was another.
Yes, there have been unfortunate injuries that could upend things, but it’s easy to put the Panthers in a different competitive tax bracket as the new season begins. If these new Panthers are to work their way up from upstarts to absolutes, they’ll need the best possible work from everybody on the roster — not just the stars, but also those guys whose efforts exceed their national name recognition.
To that end, I’ve identified three Hidden Gems for the 2026 Carolina Panthers — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent, and one underrated draft pick.
Underrated veteran: CB Mike Jackson
The Seattle Seahawks have a pretty good record of developing defensive backs through the Pete Carroll and Mike Macdonald eras, but anybody can miss one or two. Mike Jackson, who the Dallas Cowboys selected in the fifth round of the 2019 draft out of Miami, passed through Dallas, Detroit, and New England before the Seahawks signed him to their practice squad in 2021. Jackson had two good seasons in Seattle in 2022 and 2023, but in the transition from Carroll to Macdonald, Jackson was traded to the Panthers on August 22, 2024.
Dave Canales, who was the Seahawks’ passing game coordinator in 2022, may have had something to do with that. And it was a good thing, because in 2025, Jackson put together his best season to date by far. Last season, the 6’1, 210-pound Jackson allowed 51 catches on 97 targets for 628 yards, 199 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, five interceptions, 17 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 65.1. All season long, Jackson made it clear to opponents that if you wanted to avoid Jaycee Horn and test him instead, you would not generally be happy with the results.
The Panthers gave Jackson a two-year, $10 million contract with $5.7 million guaranteed in 2025. They now know that to hold onto him beyond 2026 will cost more than that.
“I won’t talk about that part, but I will talk about Mike, just the unbelievable way that he just shows up on a daily basis with focus,” Canales said in his end-of-season presser, when asked about Jackson’s contract status. “He’s an amazing competitor. He’s really brilliant. He’s a heck of a chess player. Our team meals the night before the game and people walk up to the table, and Mike is sitting there and has that gamesmanship about him. He approaches the game that way. Studies film, sick about his craft, technique, footwork. He’s thinking about things, how they may try to attack him in this formation and that. He’s just aware of it all.
“The story will be told if you ever saw him in a walkthrough. If you look at his face in a walkthrough, it might as well be the game. His eyes are in the right spot, knees are bent, and he takes it very seriously. That affects the whole group in how we should approach any time we’re on the grass, any time we’re at that meeting. He loves it. Ever since I’ve known him back in Seattle, I remember him running across the field chasing runs down on the backside. I’m talking about practice and camp. I went up to him one day in camp and was like, ‘Mike, you got to be the fittest guy on this team.’
“I just respected so much his work ethic and what he did to pair with his experience and the way he played this year, knocking balls down, coming up with the big interception for us; unbelievable year. I’m just really proud to have been a part of the early story and to watch it progress, and I’m so blessed and fortunate we were able to bring him here last year.”
If you want to know how good Jackson can be, watch how he put Davante Adams in several small boxes during Carolina’s 34-31 Wild Card loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Jackson was a primary reason this game was closer than most expected. And keeping him and Horn together should be a primary focus for this franchise.
Underrated free agent: OT Rasheed Walker
Would it be nice for every NFL team to have two future Hall of Fame offensive tackles?
Sure. I would also like Brad Pitt’s face, Wright Thompson’s writing chops, and Warren Buffett’s money, please.
In lieu of any of that happening, teams often have to do the best they can with what they have when it comes to tackles, especially when injuries set in. The Panthers know all about this, of course. They are currently dealing with injuries to left tackle Ikem Ekwonu and right tackle Taylor Moton, which leaves them with the placements of first-round pick Monroe Freeling and veteran Rasheed Walker, the former Green Bay Packer who signed a one-year, $4 million contract with $3.215 million guaranteed. The money tells you that this was a depth signing, as opposed to an estimation that Walker would man one side of the line all season long, but that could indeed happen.
Last season for the Packers, Walker allowed five sacks, three quarterback hits, and 33 quarterback hurries as the full-time left tackle. It was the third straight season he filled that role for Matt LaFleur’s team, ever since Walker replaced an injured David Bakhtiari in Week 2 of the 2023 season. The 2022 seventh-round pick out of Penn State has never been a top-tier tackle, but he’s consistent enough to maintain his stature in an offense without everything falling apart.
“Just one day at a time, just being able to challenge the group to bring out the best in the group,” Canales said in late July about what Walker brings to the front five. “Without getting into any specifics, I’m just excited that we have a veteran guy that can just create a level of comfort, as you can imagine, for the quarterback on that left side. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been around it all. He’s seen it all, and as we have different guys popping in at guard, it’s really nice to just have that piece there. He has a lot of great energy. There are things I didn’t know about him and his personality, he enjoys it. He celebrates stuff even when he’s not in and there’s a big play on the offense, the first one with his hands in the air. Love that about him. Love that he’s bringing that kind of veteran leadership.”
So no, Walker isn’t going to race to the Pro Bowl unless some surprising things happen in 2026, but that’s not the point. When you can avail yourself of an NFL starting tackle even after your depth chart at the positions have taken some serious hits, there’s nothing at all wrong with that. And in an NFL where guys like Dan Moore Jr. and Jawaan Taylor are cashing $20 million checks every year when they’re below league-average? All in all, the Walker signing could be one of the smartest things the Panthers did this offseason.
Underrated draft pick: Safety Zakee Wheatley
The 2025 Panthers ranked 22nd in Defensive DVOA, and if you’re not impressed by that, keep in mind that the 2024 Panthers ranked dead last. Part of the improvement in 2025, and a reason people are excited about further progression, is a secondary that worked well with the aforementioned Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn, but also safeties Nick Scott, Lathan Ransom, and Tre’von Moehrig.
Now, they’ve also got Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley, selected with the 151st overall pick in the fifth round. In 2025 for the Nittany Lions, the 6’3, 203-pound Wheatley allowed just seven catches on 10 targets for 36 yards, 22 yards after the catch, one touchdown, one interception, one pass breakup, and an opponent passer rating of 69.2. He also had 59 solo tackles and 23 stops, and his four quarterback pressures in just 17 pass-rushing reps show an ability to blitz that Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero can further develop. Wheatley is just as happy in the deep third as he is in the box, so he’s also another chess piece in a versatile defense.
“He’s just a really instinctive player, a physical player,” Canales said of Wheatley after the pick was made. “Shows up downhill, takes really good angles, runs downhill. He’s all over the field. Just that kind of activity on the back half, it’s really crucial for how we play football and guys being able to see the formation, anticipate concepts, and then show up physically and play with that type of attitude that we’re looking for.
“We had a great time meeting with Zakee at the Combine – just kind of picking his brain about what he knew, what he was looking for, where he came from, and how he’s become the player that he’s become. We just loved all the background and everything, and it really shows on film. He was one of my favorite guys just through the process to see him and the play style he brought.”
In the Hall of Fame game, Wheatley started showing off his NFL chops.
Get ready for more.
