We’re counting down the days until the Panthers kick off the 2021 season.
Ed. note: This post was written before the Panthers started trimming their roster to 53 players. Ishmael Hyman was one of the players cut over the weekend, but since we don’t have anyone else wearing No. 13 we’ve decided to feature Hyman anyway. -BS
We’re only 13 days away from the start of the Panthers’ 2021 season, so today’s countdown piece will be dedicated to the player on the roster formerly wearing No. 13 — wide receiver Ishmael Hyman.
Hyman spent his college career at James Madison where he put up 1,061 yards over four seasons. He went undrafted in 2018 and began his professional odyssey in the Alliance of American Football (remember that?) where he had four receptions for 60 yards over five games in 2019 before the league folded.
His tape was good enough to get signed by the Cleveland Browns and he battled through training camp in 2019 only to get released at final roster cutdowns. Hyman again landed on his feet by being quickly signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad and was ultimately promoted to the Bucs 53-man roster late in 2019. In two games he registered two receptions for 34 yards.
The 6-foot-0, 195-pounder was waived by the Bucs after the 2019 season and the Panthers stepped in a week later and signed him to a reserve/future contract for 2020. He spent most of last year on the Panthers practice squad and was signed to another reserve/future contract heading into 2021.
Hyman just turned 26 so he’s trending on the older side for a fringe player who hasn’t latched on yet. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to make the roster this year. DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, and David Moore are established veterans. Rookies Terrace Marshall and Shi Smith will likely be given plenty of chances to shine. Brandon Zylstra and Keith Kirkwood have more experience. That left Hyman competing with the likes of Omar Bayless, C.J. Saunders, and Trenton Cannon at the bottom of the wide receiver depth chart, and unfortunately the team decided to go in a different direction and released Hyman in their first group of cuts over the weekend.
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