“I want to be here because first of all, the impact Bryce has on the game, the talent you see, the flashes he showed, it’s like, you don’t really get that a lot of places,” Smith-Marsette shared in early January. “So, it’s a lot of moving parts with quarterback play and stuff like that. That’s the capabilities he has, and I just want to be a part of that. I feel like I connect with him on the field. He sees what I see. I see what he sees. And it’s just like, we always seem to hit.
“There’s so many moving pieces, different players that quarterbacks play with and stuff like that. So I would say it’s kind of hard to just instantly come in and connect and then be on the same page all the time. (But) I definitely feel like what we have right now is building, and it’s only gonna get stronger, and I just want to be somebody that he can depend on and be somebody when he goes out there, he knows, ‘I know what I’m gonna get out of Smith-Marsette.'”
In addition to what he began to add as a receiver, Smith-Marsette provides the Panthers with a top-10 punt returner. He brought 37 punts last season for 322 yards (averaging 8.7 per return) with the touchdown.
Whether as a returner, receiver, or shifty slot option, Smith-Marsette felt at the end of the 2023 season, he’d finally been given a chance to prove himself. Now, he’ll get a chance to build on his season.
Said Smith-Marsette in January: “I just haven’t had a place that really wanted me. Being here, it just feels like, now that I’m given the opportunity, it’s just like, ‘this kid can really play.’ I feel like I can stick here.”
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