The parking lot chronicles: How Haynes King and rookies are working to learn the Panthers playbook

“We had a couple of hard ones and wanted to be able to communicate and be able to operate at a high level when we went out there,” explained King. “Sometimes when you hear them the first time, you play a little slow.

“(So), making sure you’re going on the right tracks and kind of understanding what’s going on, like if it was a pass play, I’m like, OK, this is what I’m seeing, or if it was an alert or something like that, like, ‘Hey, if, the safety boils down, he’s unblockable, or you know, this guy can’t block him,’ I’m alerted, like stuff like that.”

It paid off. Coaches said they were able to get through everything on Saturday with a smooth operation, giving them the best possible look at the prospects.

It’s also an example of one of the things the Panthers like about King as a backup prospect: his experience and maturity to lead.