This Carolina Panthers receiver swims like a shark and plays like he belongs everywhere

Before one of the fastest men in Charlotte started dazzling defenses on the football field — whether that be from the slot or the outside, on kick returns or punt returns — he was busy out-sprinting sharks in the water.

Not real sharks, mind you.

Imaginary ones.

“I’m a sprinter,” Ihmir Smith-Marsette said after practice Monday, explaining his past swimming exploits with a smile. “Nah, yeah, all that long-distance stuff is too long. Too much for the brain. I think a lot, so if I was to be a long-distance swimmer, I’d be thinking a bunch of random stuff.”

Among the questions that would wander into the New Jersey native’s head when he swam competitively in high school:

What happens if a shark’s in the water? Piranhas? Yes, I’m in a chlorinated pool and everything’s safe, but it’s getting kind of dark at the bottom. What’s down there?

Those sound like fears, you might say.

To that, he’d respond with a laugh:

“Why you think I swam so fast?!”

If there’s one thing you should know about Smith-Marsette — better known as “ISM” to the die-hard Carolina Panthers fans and regarded as “one of the baddest (expletive) in the league” to those who were introduced to him last preseason — it’s that he’s fast pretty much everywhere, aquatic/terrain landscape notwithstanding. The 2021 fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa will get a chance to show that speed at 7 p.m. Thursday, when the Panthers take on the New England Patriots in Foxborough in the first game of their preseason. The game will be an important start for an important preseason for the 2022 Kansas City practice squad player-turned-2023 pleasant surprise in Carolina.

It’s true Smith-Marsette only caught eight passes for the Panthers last year. But it’s also true he did so on 10 targets, and five of those catches yielded first downs. He was also a punt returner whose explosive potential was highlighted by his 79-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in Week 10. He lined up in the slot and on the outside. He took a jet-sweep handoff to the house against the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers. He offered some creativity to an offense that last year was painfully predictable — and, in his unique way, he brought some joy in a season that bordered on miserable.

He thinks he can do the same this season.

“Wherever they put me, to be honest,” Smith-Marsette said, when asked where he thinks he’s most dangerous on the field. “They could put me outside. They could put me inside. Punt return. Kick return. Punter. Center. Right guard. Left tackle. Wherever they put me, I feel like I belong.”

It’s not just him who feels that way. Smith-Marsette has made a splash in a lot of different places in training camp. He’s listed as the No. 1 punt returner and No. 2 kick returner in the Panthers’ first official depth chart of the season.

He’s also stayed very much in the mix in a wide receiver room that has been upgraded a bunch this offseason: The signing of Diontae Johnson has already made the passing offense more inclined to take shots down the field. Adam Thielen looks poised for another good year after a resurgent one in 2023. Jonathan Mingo looks like a different player than the one he was a year ago, and 2024 first-round draft pick Xavier Legette has flashed potential when healthy. Realistically, Smith-Marsette is competing for that fifth receiver spot with Terrace Marshall.

Smith-Marsette’s teammates are noticing him, too. He and quarterback Bryce Young regularly meet and study and have grown together this offseason. Veteran defensive back Xavier Woods, when asked about the receiving room on Tuesday, offered a quick analysis. He said he “knew Diontae had gas” and that he could “get in and out of brakes.” He said “Thielen’s going to be Thielen” as he’s been doing for “30-plus years.” Then he added with a smile: “A lot of people like to go at Ihmir. Ihmir’s going to talk trash. Ihmir’s going to do a little extra on a one-on-one” rep.

First-year head coach Dave Canales is noticing Smith-Marsette, too.

“He certainly has an advantage because he’s a great returner,” Canales said. “You saw him take a punt to the house last year for a touchdown. So we know that potential is there. So all these things give guys edges. How much can you do for this team? And he’s showing us. He’s showing us he can make plays as a receiver, and we know what he can do as a returner. So he’s giving himself a great shot.”

Smith-Marsette believes the same. He comes by it naturally. His favorite player growing up was DeSean Jackson, the receiver and punt-return miracle-worker who “brought his dynamic personality to the game,” Smith-Marsette said, adding, “That’s the type of person I am; I just want to have fun.” He has a special breakfast sandwich made every day — bacon, egg and cheese on a croissant with grape jelly — and even brought it out to the field Monday as he was venturing out to practice.

Smith-Marsette walks out to practice with joyful confidence. He plays with one too. Same was true in the pool as he played water polo or swam freestyle sprints in high school — even as mind wandered, those imaginary sharks and piranhas propelling him forward.

“There are a lot of things that I believe I can do,” Smith-Marsette said. He smiled. “If I put my mind to it, there’s not going to be a soul in the world that can stop me.”