CHARLOTTE — A pair of true Panthers legends and a third player who spent his final season here were among the 50 players remaining from the modern-era candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025.

Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly and wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. remain, as does defensive end Jared Allen, who played his final season here in 2015.

Kuechly is eligible for the first time this year, and Smith has been a semifinalist each of the last three years. Allen was a finalist last year.

The original list of 167 was trimmed to 50 by a special screening committee, which includes former Hall of Famers, among other historians.

The vote now goes to the full selection committee for reduction to 25, and then to a final 15, which will be discussed before the Super Bowl.

The full list of 50 remaining candidates includes the following players.

QUARTERBACKS (2): Eli Manning, Steve McNair.

RUNNING BACKS (6): Shaun Alexander, Tiki Barber, Eddie George, Marshawn Lynch, Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters.

WIDE RECEIVERS (6): Anquan Boldin, Torry Holt, Jimmy Smith, Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, Reggie Wayne.

TIGHT ENDS (2): Ben Coates, Antonio Gates.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (12): Willie Anderson (T), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben Brown (G), Jahri Evans (G), Olin Kreutz (C), Logan Mankins (G), Jeff Saturday (C), Joe Staley (T), Richmond Webb (T), Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), Marshal Yanda (G).

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (8): John Abraham (DE also LB), Jared Allen (DE), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT), Simeon Rice (DE), Neil Smith (DE), Vince Wilfork (DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT).

LINEBACKERS (5): Cornelius Bennett, London Fletcher, James Harrison, Luke Kuechly, Terrell Suggs.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (6): Eric Allen (CB), Kam Chancellor (S), Rodney Harrison (S), Earl Thomas (S), Troy Vincent (CB), Darren Woodson (S).

SPECIAL TEAMS (3): Gary Anderson (K), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB), Adam Vinatieri (K)

Kuechly is among eight first-time eligibles to make it to the final 50, along with Manning, Lynch, Staley, Yanda, Suggs, Thomas, and Vinatieri.

His resume is nearly identical to Hall of Famer Patrick Willis, who was inducted this year alongside Julius Peppers.

Both Kuechly and Willis played eight seasons and went to seven Pro Bowls, won defensive rookie of the year, and were named to the All-Decade team. Kuechly was a seven-time All-Pro (five times first team), and Willis was named All-Pro six times (five first team, one second).

Kuechly, however, has an NFL defensive player of the year award from 2013, which Willis does not, but the differences in their resumes are minuscule. Willis was inducted in his third year of eligibility.

Smith has made it to the final 25 each of the last three years, and his case is compelling.

Among the six receivers remaining on the ballot, he leads the group in receiving yards and is third in receptions behind Anquan Boldin and Reggie Wayne.

Wayne and Holt were finalists last year, with Holt making the cut to the final 10.

But unlike Holt and Wayne, Smith didn't have the luxury of playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback or Hall of Fame offensive teammates.

(So when opposing defenses were drawing up plans for the Colts, their priorities were often Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, and Marvin Harrison, so Wayne got more favorable defensive matchups. The same was true of Holt, who had Hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk alongside).

Holt, Wayne, and Andre Johnson were stuck in a three-year logjam in the final 15 before Johnson broke through and was inducted last year.

Smith's also one of just four players to ever win a Triple Crown, leading the league in receptions, yards, and receiving touchdowns in 2005. He did it with Jake Delhomme as his quarterback and on a team that ran it more times than it threw.

Comparative stats of WRs remaining in HOF voting

Allen had 2.0 of his 136.0 career sacks here in 2015. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Chiefs, Vikings, and Bears. He's 12th on the all-time sack list and was among the final 10 in last year's voting, along with Holt, Willie Anderson, Antonio Gates, and Darren Woodson.

Every player ahead of him on the all-time sack list is already in the Hall of Fame, other than Suggs, who is eligible for the first time this year.

With the reduction, a number of former Panthers did not make the cut to 50 from the initial list of 167. That group includes Ryan Kalil (eligible for the first time), along with Jake Delhomme, Stephen Davis, Eric Metcalf, Muhsin Muhammad, Wesley Walls, Jeremy Shockey, Jordan Gross, Jessie Armstead, Lee Woodall, Eugene Robinson, Charles Tillman, DeAngelo Hall, and John Kasay.