How did Panthers’ 2021 rookie class grade out in NFL.com rankings?

Tying their franchise-record way back from 1995, the Carolina Panthers corralled the largest draft class in team history last spring. How did that all pan out though?

Well, not too bad according to Gennaro Filice and Nick Shook of NFL.com—who graded the 11-man group at a ‘B-.’ That mark was good enough to rank them 19th in the entire league, which isn’t too shabby considering many of those players were victims of circumstance.

“This grade comes as a result of a lack of concrete evidence with a lot of these picks,” Shook prefaced. “Horn’s promising rookie season met an unfortunate premature end due to injury after just three games. Horn still showed the potential that made him a top-10 pick, though, intercepting a pass in his second professional game. He just needs to get healthy. Marshall had an exciting preseason, then suffered as a result of Carolina’s revolving door at quarterback. It’s tough to judge his performance when considering the instability under center, and I remain high on his potential in this offense.”

Both Horn and Marshall, who shined in summer workout and exhibition play leading up to regular season, didn’t experience the rookie campaigns they had probably hoped for. Horn’s broken foot kept him from even getting to Week 4 while Marshall registered just 138 receiving yards through 13 games—43 fewer than he totaled in his three preseason contests.

Shook also noted Brady Christensen’s relatively cloudy year, as head coach Matt Rhule had trouble finding his third-rounder a concrete position. Christensen made six starts—four at left tackle, one at right tackle and one at right guard.

The Panthers rookie who saw the most action was running back Chuba Hubbard. In place of an injured Christian McCaffrey, the 22-year-old rushed for 612 yards and five touchdowns over 10 starts.

Hopefully, as was the case for Hubbard, opportunity will knock in a not-so-damaging way for the rest of his 2021 draftees moving ahead.