The story of Jalen Coker’s NFL journey so far is all about about opportunities and what you do with them. After all, Coker went undrafted in his rookie year and joined a Panthers team that seemingly had the receiver room already completely set. The Panthers had traded for Diontae Johnson, had Adam Thielen returning off a 1,000 yard season, drafted Xavier Legette in the first round, and Jonathan Mingo who was a top 40 pick a year prior. There wasn’t room for an undrafted free agent from Holy Cross.
After the whole offense’s failure to launch to begin 2024, the receiver room experience a complete overhaul. Johnson and Mingo were traded, Thielen was injured and all of the sudden Coker’s called up from the practice squad and is outperforming a prized first round pick.
Poised to make a leap in his second year, an upper leg injury in late August forced him to start the season on Injured Reserve and watch the opening 6 weeks of the season from the sideline.
And yet, he managed to supplant all his competition again in 2025. He end the year as one not only one of the teams starting receivers, but one of the most respected players on the roster. Once a back-up slot receiver, Coker ended the season as a surefire starting outside receiver with versatility to line-up anywhere. Splitting his snaps equally between the slot and on the outside, this allowed other weapons on the Panthers offense to move around and take advantage of match-ups.
Coker’s outside prowess was well noted as he had stretch of games where he was consistently making plays down the field, providing the Panthers a much needed man-to-man winner when they needed it most.
The point cannot be undersold, Coker was as clutch as they come down the stretch of the Panthers playoff run (if you want to call it that). While McMillan was the star and received the most attention, Bryce Young looked for Coker when he absolutely needed to have it.
4th and 3 against the so-called best team in the NFL at the time? 33 yard touchdown.
Down 9 with 2 minutes to go in a battle to win the division? Huge contested catch for 6 points.
3rd and 3 near the goal line with minutes left in a playoff games? Touchdown to take the lead as 10 point underdogs
Coker’s emergence at the end of the season wasn’t just a couple moments here and there, but rather steady, efficient production despite low volume. Plenty of efficiency metrics have Coker floating in the same ballpark as some of the leagues best.
Still considered on the rise, he had a bit of a coming out party to the NFL world during his first playoff game of his career: 9 catches, 132 yards and a touchdown.
Might be a lofty expectation, but his NFL career so far has shown you that he can be a potential star-in-the-making for the Panthers. It’s hard to quantify just how high a ceiling Coker has, so I guess we’ll just have to watch and find out.
