Rhule Praises Young Receivers Including One Who Has Been a Pleasant Surprise

Does Carolina have enough to replace Curtis Samuel?

After the seasons that DJ Moore and Robby Anderson had a year ago, defenses across the league are going to place a heavy focus on taking those guys out of the Panthers' game plan. With Curtis Samuel now with the Washington Football Team, Carolina has to find a way to make up for his production which is over 1,000 all-purpose yards. 

Veteran tight end Dan Arnold and wide receiver David Moore are the two obvious candidates to replace Samuel's production but there are a few younger guys on the roster that should be able to chip in as well, including one name very few folks know about - C.J. Saunders.

In the first couple weeks of camp, Saunders, an Ohio State alum, has made plays just about every day and has really caught the attention of the Panthers coaching staff. He has been a guy that has fought for everything he has and even during his time at Ohio State, he was not much of a factor. He walked on at Ohio State to play cornerback but flipped over to receiver and eventually earned a scholarship. In 16 games played, Saunders reeled in 27 receptions for 294 yards and one touchdown. After being named a team captain, Saunders missed the entire 2019 season due to a knee injury and was not granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. He went undrafted in 2020 but did work with the Atlanta Falcons during rookie minicamp. After not sticking with the Falcons, Saunders returned to Ohio State to serve as a grad assistant on the coaching staff.

Head coach Matt Rhule spoke about Saunders' play along with some of the other young receivers such as Terrace Marshall Jr. and Shi Smith. 

"I think Terrace is doing a good job -- trying to move him around. I've been really pleased with Shi Smith. I think one of the standouts in camp so far has been C.J. Saunders. I always pay attention to the quarterbacks and I think they like throwing him the ball because they know he's going to go get it. We're trying to force-feed Terrace and bring him along as fast as we can."

Although Saunders is making plays in practice, he's still going to have to make a huge impression during the team's preseason games in order to secure a spot on the 53-man roster. Should he make the roster, it would be one heck of a story. 

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