CHARLOTTE — Call it manifestation, call it answered prayers, call it fate. Jimmy Horn Jr. prefers destiny—"I was destined for sure"—but the rookie wide receiver believes he was always meant to be here.

"Really, when I was younger, I was like that," he said confidently.

Horn grew up in Sanford, Fla., a suburb of Orlando that is as talent-deep as the sinkholes that dot the central swath of the state. As a kid, he would roam the neighborhoods around Sanford, looking for his next opponent. Anyone brave enough could challenge him in a foot race. He'd always win. Sometimes, they'd start a sandlot football game, which would turn into foot races. He'd win those, too.

"I was just always different like I wasn't like the other kids," Horn said matter-of-factly. "I was just one of them, one of them ones, like humbly saying this, but confident at the same time, I was one of them, I was just different.

"I really can't even explain it, like you've been around them—especially when you grew up in the hood—you have a certain group of kids, and you just know that kid right there, he got it, and I was just that guy."

In his junior year of high school, it seemed as if fate had a different plan. Horn was injured, sidelined, and headed into the offseason before his senior year with no college offers. In an area and at a school that produces college and NFL talent, Horn was getting lost in the shuffle. But he never doubted what could still be ahead.

"When coaches talk, they are like, you know, it's only one percent that make it to the league and stuff like that," Horn recalled. "When I used to hear coaches say that, I feel like they were talking to me."

So he attacked his last offseason with a single-minded focus: make it the best offseason he'd had yet. By season's end, Seminole High School won the 8A Florida State Finals, and Horn had offers pouring in from schools around the country. He elected to stay close to home on a full ride to USF.

From there, the story is well documented: he followed Deion Sanders to Colorado, became the offensive counterpart to Heisman winner Travis Hunter as a shifty and speedy option in the Buffaloes high flying offense, and was a sixth-rounder (No. 208 overall) in this past April's NFL draft.

Making it to the league was always the goal and maybe his destiny, but Horn wanted to take it a step further. He wanted to play for the Carolina Panthers.

"Manifestation," Horn smiled when asked why he predicted he'd be in Charlotte before the draft. "I manifested it, like because I came with my 30 visit here, this was one of the visits I had, and when I came up, I just felt the vibe, and I was like if I could commit right now like this was college, this is were I would have committed.

"It was just the energy in the building. Like when you come in, you can just feel it, it's something special going on here, and then like we're looking at the videos, I can see they building around the program and stuff, so this is something that I wanted to be a part of.

"I prayed about it, manifested it, and God answered my prayer."

Now that he's here, the work begins. As head coach Dave Canales noted last week during mandatory minicamp, the wide receiver room is crowded and deep, which will mean the final few roster spots are going to be incredibly competitive. Horn might have to tap into his return ability to earn a spot.

"Special teams is going to be such a huge piece of that puzzle," Canales said as to what could separate receivers. "How can these guys help us in the coverage units? Can they help us as a returner? That's the part where we get to challenge our guys to find a role, take this thing seriously. 'You're not here just to catch passes. We only get so many helmets on game day, so we need all of you guys to contribute in different ways.'"

In a way, Jimmy Horn Jr. beating the small percentage to make it to the NFL was the easy part. It's the staying and thriving that will require fate, luck, and a whole lot of work, which is why—for the first time in his life—Horn isn't leaning on what he feels is his destiny, but rather his purpose.

"It's really exciting because it's something I get a chance to be a part of. I just got to keep putting the work in on the field so I can get out there," Horn said of joining this Panthers offense.

"The main thing I want to know is that I put in at work. Is it going to show? That's what I want to look back and say 'I did that.' Everything is going to have a plan behind the work that I put in."