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http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-07-20/madden-16-ratings-rankings-rookies-release-jameis-winston-marcus-mariota?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Devin is on here and you get to see his reaction along with some of the other top guys from the NFL along with Winston and Mariota. Sammie Coates' reaction at the end is the best.

One of the more interesting stories of the 2015 Carolina Panthers OTA sessions has been the improvement of Corey Brown at the wide receiver position. A few days ago during practice I was standing next to Bill Voth of BBR discussing Brown's improvement. We came to the conclusion that the best sign of his arrival as a player was the fact that we were no longer really taking note of his receptions. Meaning, Corey Brown making plays had become routine, not noteworthy. That is a true sign of a player's growth. After the final Panthers OTA practice, I wanted to speak to Corey about his growth and his thoughts of the receivers group as a whole. So I waited, and waited, and waited a bit more. You see, Corey was across the field catching one handed passes with the defensive backs..... View full article

The last OTA practice of 2015 was both the hottest and the practice with the least enthusiasm. With Ron Rivera in California for his daughters graduation, the Panthers seemed to lose focus. It showed both in their demeanor and on the field. It was a rough day for Cam Newton. After looking pristine for most of the OTA sessions, today he looked off kilter. Many of his end zone passes were high. His long throws either short or long. Colin Jones made the play of the day, intercepting Cam Newton in the red zone and taking it for what would have been a pick six. Cam Newton was visibly unhappy about the interception, and tried chasing Jones down.... without luck. Colin Jones also made a beautiful break on a ball from Newton later in the practice, nearly intercepting another ball meant for Ted Ginn on a curl route. Yes, Colin Jones is my player of the day. The first defensive player of the day I have named... which should tell you how the day went. Other Notes: - Brandon Williams struggled as he dropped a catchable 30 yard bomb from Cam Newton. Williams had both hands on the ball, but could not hold on. - Devin Funchess had more second string snaps today, due to Kelvin Benjamin being back on the field. Funchess did get a few first string reps in. When with the second string, he appeared to be running many of the same routes as Benjamin did with the first string. - Cam's sure fire connection to Greg Olsen was just not there today. Both targets in the end zone soared well above Olsen's head. - Both linebacker draft picks, Thompson and Mayo, spent time in the second string together. - Stephen Hill mainly played with the second string, no plays of note to mention. View full article

After two weeks of OTA practices, here is how the wide receiver depth chart is shaping up according to number of snaps and targets on media days..... View full article

The Carolina Panthers opened up an additional day for media, which came as a nice surprise this morning. So I rearranged my schedule and headed to Biggs Camera for my gear. Those guys are so awesome they are providing me with equipment this season so that I can bring these images to you. Having them in my corner this year is a load off my mind in terms of equipment. So make sure you show them some love if you are in Charlotte and in need of camera gear or prints. They are good people. Charles Johnson was showing off some nice kicks and a new haircut today. Kelvin Benjamin and Bene Benwikere again were limited in their practice involvement. I spoke to Bene after practice. He is feeling good and should return as soon as tomorrow possibly. After practice coach Rivera mentioned Kelvin also may return. Just because Kelvin is limited in team drills doesn't mean he is taking it easy. He spent a lot of time with the ball machine, catching pass after pass. He seems more aggravated by not being able to participate on the field than by a nagging hamstring...... View full article

Last week it was Corey Brown, but this week Devin Funchess returned to the practice field and grabbed the heralded "Carolina Huddle Player of the Day" award. Devin had an impressive outing in his first practice open to the media with Cam Newton throwing to him. Funchess never catches the ball with his body. He is a full time hands catcher, which is something all coaches love to see. Less chance for the ball bouncing off the chest means fewer incompletions or interceptions. Funchess saw time on the outside as well as in the slot. He played in 2 wide and 3 wide sets. He spent most of his time on the field playing opposite Corey Brown. These two seem to compliment each other very nicely. For the majority of the snaps he was covered by new Panthers CB Peanut Tillman. In a practice two minute drill, Funchess bodied Tillman out of the way for a touchdown strike from Newton. Funchess was asked what it was like playing against Tillman after practice. "You've got to use your strength against his, and just play my technique." Tillman was not at all happy about being shoved around by the rookie. At 6'2 and 198 pounds, Tillman isn't exactly a small corner. If today's practice was any indication for the upcoming season, the Panthers are matching up nicely against teams with larger corners like Seattle. View full article

Here are some general thoughts and musings on how day one of the Carolina Panthers 2015 rookie camp went down in no particular order... Yes, Devin Funchess appears to be worth that first round grade Dave Gettleman tagged him at. I understand why people want to compare him to Kelvin, but when they see him on the field they won't ever again. He is much more of an athlete than Kelvin is. I don't mean that as a knock on Kelvin at all. Benjamin uses his size and length as his main weapon while Funchess appears to use his legs. He is sneaky quick. Funchess and Benjamin are two completely different types of receivers. Devin caught everything that was catchable in the team drills. A few balls were very poorly thrown, and somehow he was still able to get a hand on them, a major accomplishment in itself. I was actually more impressed with David Mayo than Shaq Thompson as far as the linebackers go. Of course, Mayo stayed mainly at the middle linebacker spot where he is most comfortable. Shaq definitely has more of a learning curve ahead of him in the Panthers defense. Mayo didn't have a perfect day and did get burned in coverage a couple of times, which is concerning. Still, I feel he had the better performance of the two. Unfortunate Shaq could not get in on the team drills due to injury. Maybe that is where he would shine. Damiere Byrd had the best play of the day, a gorgeous one handed grab over Corey Trim. I really like this Byrd kid and am excited to see more of what he can do in camp. UDFA Garry Peters out of Clemson also looks like he could push for a roster spot early. He made more than one really nice play on the ball and a nice strip on a ball that would have been a touchdown. Keep an eye on this, he could change the roster up a bit. Daryl Williams so far looks to be a real keeper. Its funny how obvious a true tackle is to spot now that we haven't seen one in a while. This kid has a future. Compared to the performance of David Foucault last year, he already looks like a 3 year veteran. Not sure why people say Cameron Artis-Payne is a "bowling ball" or is compared to Tolbert. He looks and plays nothing like Tolbert. Truth be known, his performance today reminded me of the first day of the old #34 back when he was second string to Desean Foster. His game resembles Deangelo's much more than Tolbert's. He had a few really nice quick shifts at the line today and found the hole quickly. That was encouraging. The quarterbacks this year have been.... bad. I mean.... really bad. I feel sorry for the receivers trying to make a name for themselves on such little opportunity to begin with, much less the fact that the ball is no where near them. View full article

Today I had the opportunity to get a look at the newest Panthers wide receiver, second rounder Devin Funchess, at Panthers rookie camp. Devin strolled into his first practice as a NFL player like he had been there before, having some fun with NC State guard Zach Allen. Lots of comparisons will be made between Kelvin Benjamin and Funchess this season, but right away it was clear to me these are two completely different receivers. Funchess is much more fluid in his movements, relies less on his height to achieve his objective. He runs more like smaller slot receiver. There were no team drills today, so my observations are limited to positional drills. I can tell you that Funchess caught every catchable ball that came his way, sometimes in athletic fashion. (More about that in All-Pro). His eyes in all of my shots of him are clearly fixated on the ball, a skill that other more experienced players on the roster still have trouble with. Overall, and yes I know this is early, I can definitely see Funchess as the opening day #2 receiver. But you know what? Here is the shocker.... I could see him as an eventual number one as well with Kelvin Benjamin being the second receiver. Funchess looks every bit as good at this rookie camp as Kelvin did last year at his. There is still a long way to go, but this initial look was very encouraging. View full article