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While Kelvin Benjamin has been anointed a "legitimate No. 1" after 1 preseason catch...

TonyN

By TonyN,
in Carolina Panthers

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party_animal Apprentice

party_animal

Posted
Posted

Smith will be a great #2 or slot for a few years. He will also slow down as the season goes on so his snaps need to be limited. Do I wish we kept him? Yes. Do I think it was stupid to pay him to leave? Yes. I think the front office screwed up in handling the situation and it cost the team. However, he was not a #1, and knowing he was on his way out he needed to step back and let the youth develop.

Brandon LaFail may not be doing too badly, but he is doing badly. Keep in mind he went from competing against the #1s to competing against the #2s and #3s and he still does not stand out. And his hands are still made of stone.

Ted Ginn was an excellent return man and that is where I hope he is not missed. You can bring in any speedster to do what Ginn did. If all you need is what Ginn brought, then sign a track athlete, have him master 2 or 3 routes on the route tree, and make him sit on the jugs machine every practice. He was inconsistent in the passing game. Both he and LaFail continued to run the wrong routes all the way into the postseason.

This illustrates the issues with LaFail and Ginn. (Olsen was correcting Ginn after the play)...

eoNOw5F.gif

A pass intended for Olsen. Ginn gets jammed and fails to clear out up the seam or over the middle with his speed. LaFail rounds off his crossing route shallow and then one hand pops the ball up to the defense which he has done several times. Because of their failure as receivers they crowd the area of the pass and LaFail becomes a 49ers defender allowing Willis to intercept the ball. Maybe convert LaFail to safety or corner. He will do a lot better. He is great at getting one hand on the ball.

Benjamin will not have to be "very very very productive" to replace this group when you actually look at what they produced on the field. Remember Olsen was the Panthers #1 producer in the air last season, and he remains on the team. If you factor in the production of Cotchery and Avant in place of Lafell and Ginn, then Benjamin needs to produce 65 receptions for 879 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season. I guarantee you he puts up more than 2 touchdowns by far.

34f1xro.jpg

You think too highly of the Panthers receivers last season. We had a QB who broke rookie records, and people doubted Cam. Benjamin puts up 102 receptions for 1500 yards and 18 touchdowns and he will break rookie records too. Is that tough? Yes. Is it impossible? No. If Benjamin averages 6.4 receptions, 93.8 yards, and 1.1 touchdowns per game He takes home the rookie records. Benjamin, unlike other rookie receivers, will be placed in that position to achieve those numbers.

What is sobering is that the coaches know Benjamin is the #1 receiver entering the season as a rookie. Most rookies that start at receiver are in the #2 spot. What kind of production came from rookie receivers who were put into the #1 role? It is rare that you see coaches place a rookie receiver into the #1 role.

Since 2003:

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All of the rookie receivers placed into the #1 receiver position with a franchise QB have succeeded over the past 20 seasons. Of the 66 rookie receivers who have started 10 or more games in the #1 or #2 spot in the past 20 seasons more than 50% of them racked up 750+ yards on the season (More than Smith, LaFail, and Ginn last season). There have been 11 rookie receivers to start 16 games, and 6 were #1 receivers. Of those 6 receivers 5 went for 950+ yards on the season. Peter Warrick was the only one not to top 950+ yards during a rookie season that had the train wreck known as Akili Smith throwing to him.

So, when coaches anoint a rookie receiver, who is a match-up nightmare for defenses, as the #1 WR with a Pro Bowl franchise QB at the helm and a top pass catching TE to pair with him. I am not the least bit worried of the outcome on Sundays. The odds are in the Panthers favor.

Kudos. Excellent analysis.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

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RelaxImaPro Enthusiast

RelaxImaPro

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eoNOw5F.gif

 

A pass intended for Olsen. Ginn gets jammed and fails to clear out up the seam or over the middle with his speed. LaFail rounds off his crossing route shallow and then one hand pops the ball up to the defense which he has done several times. Because of their failure as receivers they crowd the area of the pass and LaFail becomes a 49ers defender allowing Willis to intercept the ball. Maybe convert LaFail to safety or corner. He will do a lot better. He is great at getting one hand on the ball.

 

 

Screw the drops, this (along with his disappearing act) was by far the most frustrating thing about LaFell.  I can't even recall the number of times he's done this poo.

 

I'd be willing to bet a very high % of Cam's INTs over his career have when the ball was in LaFell's vicinity, be it as a result of him getting outworked for it (which wasn't hard at all to fuging do, dude never fought for the ball), or him just flat out tipping the mother fuger to the defense.

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Icege Grand Master

Icege

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LaFell's TD vs PHI tonight was more the CB being terrible and LaFell making a play. ZERO separation on LaFell's part.

A shame because I was hoping for Moose 2.0 with him.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

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teeray Rookie

teeray

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I honestly don't give a poo about how those guys do. Some of them might be in better situations, or schemes that better fit their talents. Maybe Laffel fits better in NE (I think he might as a matter of fact) and Smitty might have a renaissance year.

I care about our guys and how they effect our team. I think they actually fit our scheme and QB better. That doesn't mean they all have to go for 1000 yards and 10 TDs. It is how they perform to give us a chance to win.

For Cam I like the bigger stronger WRs. I think we will surprise people, but we are still going to be a grind it out offense with long sustained drives, and will probably once again have less possessions than most teams. I am okay with that as long as we remain efficient.

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iamhubby1 Veteran

iamhubby1

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I honestly don't give a poo about how those guys do. Some of them might be in better situations, or schemes that better fit their talents. Maybe Laffel fits better in NE (I think he might as a matter of fact) and Smitty might have a renaissance year.

I care about our guys and how they effect our team. I think they actually fit our scheme and QB better. That doesn't mean they all have to go for 1000 yards and 10 TDs. It is how they perform to give us a chance to win.

For Cam I like the bigger stronger WRs. I think we will surprise people, but we are still going to be a grind it out offense with long sustained drives, and will probably once again have less possessions than most teams. I am okay with that as long as we remain efficient.

YEAH!

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CollegePanther Newbie

CollegePanther

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You're seriously trying to reason we had a good receiving corps? Ginn was a one-trick pony, Lafell couldn't catch the ball, and Steve, while one of the greatest Panthers all time is on the tail end of his career. It was time to move on. Personally, I think KB has a lot of potential and will make a big impact this year

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