Panthers’ Johnny Hekker, JJ Jansen make top 3 of Players’ All-Pro Team

2022 was one heck of a year for the Carolina Panthers’ special teams unit.

On Thursday, the NFL Players Association rolled out their first-ever Players’ All-Pro Team. The NFLPA had players across the league cast their votes for who they thought were the most impactful of their peers from this past season.

Now, unfortunately for the Panthers, they were not represented on the 1st Team. But they did have two guys that came awfully close—with punter Johnny Hekker and long snapper JJ Jansen finishing second at their respective positions.

Hekker had a record-breaker of a 2022 in his first campaign for Carolina. He landed 39 of his attempts inside the 20-yard line—which not only led the league, but set a new franchise mark—while averaging the third-most net yards per try (44.1).

Jansen set a pretty cool record of his own. He, with his Week 14 appearance in Seattle, recorded his 222nd game as a Panther—surpassing former kicker John Kasay for the team’s all-time tally.