Tommy Tremble has been sitting at the top of the Panthers' tight end depth chart all season. I'm not sure many people have really thought of him as Carolina's TE1, though.
It's easy to understand why. Darren Waller is the name everybody knows, and Mitchell Evans is the young guy people want to see more of. Tremble has mostly been the guy who blocks, moves around and does whatever Carolina asks him to do.
Then Sunday happened.
Tremble finally got his moment
Tremble only caught four passes against Philadelphia, but he made them count. He finished with 46 yards and scored twice in Carolina's 25-14 win.
The first touchdown came from 12 yards out in the second quarter. The second one came when Carolina really needed it.
Philadelphia had cut the lead to 19-14 and had a chance to make things interesting late. After the Panthers got the ball back with good field position, Bryce Young found Tremble for a 19-yard touchdown that pretty much shut the door.
It was the first two-touchdown game of Tremble's career. He now has 13 touchdown catches with Carolina, fourth most by a tight end in franchise history.
Maybe we've overlooked him a little bit.
He did more than catch two touchdowns
One of Tremble's biggest plays didn't show up in his receiving numbers.
Carolina faced fourth-and-1 during that 94-yard touchdown drive in the second half. Tremble lined up at fullback in front of Chuba Hubbard, and Hubbard ripped off 19 yards.
The Panthers came back to the same look on another fourth-and-1 later in the game. This time they didn't even have to snap it. Young got Philadelphia to jump with a hard count.
That's a big part of why Tremble keeps finding his way onto the field. Carolina can move him around and ask him to do a little bit of everything.
There's a reason he's still at the top
The Panthers had Tremble, Waller and Evans available Sunday. Tremble still played more than either of them.
He was on the field for 54 offensive snaps. Evans played 43 and Waller played 36.
That doesn't mean Tremble is suddenly going to become a huge part of the passing game every Sunday. Through five games, he has 15 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. That's probably never going to be the biggest part of his game.
But look at what Carolina got from him in Philadelphia. He helped the running game, caught everything thrown his way and scored twice. When the Panthers needed a touchdown late, Young found him.
Tremble has been listed as TE1 all season.
Maybe Sunday was the first time it really felt like it.
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