It was 4th-and-3. The Los Angeles Rams were creeping forward. The stadium was soaked and tense. The Carolina Panthers were teetering between collapse and belief.
Head coach Dave Canales stayed aggressive, leaving the offense out there with one thought in mind: someone has to win.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker beat his man, turned on the jets, and when quarterback Bryce Young dropped a perfect ball in stride, the second-year receiver secured it and refused to be denied. Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. latched on at the five-year line, but the 2024 undrafted free agent dragged him the final yards into the end zone.
Jalen Coker stepped up when the Carolina Panthers needed him most
“Just matchups,” Canales said when asked about the fourth-down gamble. “And Jalen Coker.” The wideout later caught the 3rd-and-5 dagger to seal the win as he finished the day with four catches for 74 receiving yards and a score.
If you asked anyone before the campaign which young Panthers offensive player would be emerging as Carolina's rising star by the bye week, you’d hear the same names: Tetairoa McMillan. Young. Maybe Xavier Legette.
No one would have said Coker, especially after a quad injury that put him on injured reserve for six weeks. And yet here we are, the Panthers at 7-6, fueled by an unheralded receiver from Holy Cross who has become the team’s most surprising asset.
Coker doesn’t fit a mold. He’s not the explosive, first-round prototype like McMillan. He’s not the after-catch bulldozer like Legette or the vertical speedster.
Instead, he’s the detail guy — the leverage winner. The dirty-work grinder who blocks, picks, clears space, runs through contact, does the stuff that rarely goes viral but always wins games.
What Coker gives Carolina is almost a missing layer. A midfield bully who can stress safeties, punish man coverage, and give Young someone he can trust when the picture gets tight.
And that trust was on full display against the Rams. You don’t throw to a receiver on both of the game’s defining plays unless you believe he’ll deliver.
This is a developing Panthers team. Some players were expected to take steps forward. Just not this player. Not the undrafted kid who spent most of September on the shelf and most of October fighting for snaps.
This Panthers team is suddenly playing with an edge, a defiance, a confidence that wasn’t there last season. Coker is at the center of it.
Not the rising star anyone expected. But maybe the one this team needed all along.