4 players who came out of nowhere for the Carolina Panthers in 2021

(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports) Frankie Luvu
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports) Frankie Luvu
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Carolina Panthers
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports) Giovanni Ricci

Which Carolina Panthers came out of nowhere to become key contributors during what’s been an eventful 2021 season so far?

Although it’s been a season of ups and downs for the Carolina Panthers, there are some real bright spots that have emerged. Players of which little was expected came to the fore to assist the team in a big way, with certain positional groups performing way better than originally anticipated.

This has been masked somewhat by the obvious complications during the season – most notably at quarterback and across the offensive line. Until the Panthers figure out how best to move forward in two critical areas, they will only get so far and it’s going to be extremely interesting to see what avenues they explore during the offseason.

Carolina might be down and almost out.

But all hope is not lost just yet.

The team still has hopes of reaching the postseason despite their 5-7 record. If they could accomplish this with such a brutal run of games down the stretch, it will be classed as an impressive achievement all things considered.

Whether Matt Rhule can galvanize his troops without Christian McCaffrey and Donte Jackson will go a long way to determining the confidence in the head coach moving forward. He also made a somewhat surprising move by firing offensive coordinator Joe Brady with just five games remaining to pile on additional pressure.

Without further ado, here are four Panthers who’ve come out of nowhere to play a notable role in 2021.

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