5 Carolina Panthers who’ll benefit most from Matt Rhule’s removal
By Dean Jones
Terrace Marshall Jr. – Carolina Panthers WR
There aren’t many Carolina Panthers players who’ll be happier to see the back of Matt Rhule than Terrace Marshall Jr. The wide receiver and the former head coach didn’t enjoy the best relationship imaginable, which left him on the outside looking in despite others within the pass-catching room going through struggles of their own.
Big things were expected of Marshall when the Panthers took him at No. 58 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. Another starring performance in training camp this summer failed to alter his overall trajectory, with the LSU product gaining minimal targets so far and was even scratched from two contests to further increase concerns.
Although offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo remains on the books, Rhule’s firing could mean Steve Wilks gets Marshall more involved in the game plan. And who knows, perhaps it was the man at the helm’s influence that made the offense so vanilla.
It won’t take long to find out whether Rhule was the problem or not. P.J. Walker looks set to start for the next fortnight at least after Baker Mayfield suffered a high ankle sprain, which doesn’t exactly fill anyone with confidence based on his production under center to date.
Carolina has to start integrating Marshall considering Robbie Anderson is unlikely to return in 2023 with his $21.71 million salary-cap hit. And the Panthers have to know exactly what they have in such a high-end draft pick at some stage.