CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- James Bradberry has been the No. 1 cornerback for the Carolina Panthers the past two years.

Don’t assume that will be the case in 2018.

Two years ago, after the Panthers used a second-round pick on Bradberry and a third on Daryl Worley, coach Ron Rivera said it was possible to win a Super Bowl with a pair of rookie cornerbacks.

He cited history, referring to the 1981 San Francisco 49ers that did it.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

Bradberry proved to be the consistent starter the Panthers hoped he could be after rescinding the franchise tag of 2015 Pro Bowl selection Josh Norman and letting him go to Washington in free agency. But he wasn’t a true No. 1, at least not according to the 42.4 grade -- considered poor -- he received from Pro Football Focus this past season.

Worley actually had a better grade (58.9) in 2017. He also was in and out of the starting lineup at times because of inconsistent play, making him expendable this offseason in a trade with Philadelphia for wide receiver Torrey Smith.

But it wasn’t just Worley’s play that made him the odd man out. It was the lack of real competition between Worley and Bradberry needed to raise the level of their game.

“That’s one of the things that when we go back and look at the last two seasons, I’m not quite sure if Daryl and James did that enough with each other, you know, as to who was going to be the No. 1 guy,” Rivera said last week at the NFL owners meetings.

“You push and compete against one another, you’re going to make each other better. I’m not sure if we did that enough.

That’s the role of former New York Giants cornerback Ross Cockrell, signed to a two-year, $6.8 million deal prior to the meetings.

Cockrell wasn’t Carolina’s first choice. Former Washington cornerback Bashaud Breeland had reached an agreement, but once he failed his physical the team moved on.

Rivera and his staff were familiar with Cockrell, a fourth-round pick out of Duke in 2014 who played high school football in Charlotte.

In looking over his pre-draft notes from that year, Rivera noticed one of Cockrell’s strengths was his competitive nature. Add that to four years of experience with Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants, and the Panthers believe they have somebody that will help challenge Bradberry for the No. 1 corner spot.

“Ross can do that because he’s a competitor,’’ Rivera said. “You have to really study guys and watch them. And some of the things that we wrote about him when he was coming out gave you that sense of feel.”