Philly Brown and Ted Ginn Jr are the worst starting receiver tandem in the league...

[GoobyPls]

Im hoping you just forgot about Funchess because he'd get picked up in a heart beat but overall I agree with you.

Funchess is really our wild card like Benjamin was last year. We can only hope we can get some good production out of him and Ginn can get away as a number 2 WR although he's not ideal there. Thank god we have Olsen and Cam can scramble...

Yeah I forgot about Funchess

And Benjamin wasn't a wildcard, he was a 1st round pick in possibly the deepest and best WR class ever, dominated in college, balled out all during training camp and pre season. Funchess on the other hand underachieved at UofM, was coming along slow in the off season and has hardly played any preseason games.

Funchess does has advantage in that Cam is healthy, the O-line might give him more time, our rieceivers are faster and its possible the opposing team won't put their number 1 corner on him. 

[PhillyB]

I hope you're right

me too lol

[motocross_cat]

Are you freakkin kiddin me?

Dallas, 49ers, Saints, Falcons, PATRIOTS just to name a few.

You must have never been to another team's forum or gone to any away games. Those 5 right there are the most douchiest and whiniest fanbases I've ever encountered. This is child's play compared to those fans.

 

 Making the same thread about how bad we suck over and over......you sure we are not making a run?

 

Or is this a common thing around here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheNewStandard]

Really hoping we can pick up a receiver that demands double teams. Olsen is the only receiver that has to truly be game-planned for, considering our passing attack. 

Our rushing game may depend heavily on the ability for our WRs to keep 7 out of the box. Ginn may take a corner and a safety...but that's a big maybe. 

I see lots of RB/WR screen passes In our future, just to spread things out to open up our possession receivers and get the rushing attack going. Cam's gonna have to make a lot of plays with his legs for our offense to be anything special.

[Udogg]

And then we have a losing season but nobody acknowledges that the Chicken Littles were right, and then the next year we have the same batch of self styled pragmatists saying to calm down.

That works both ways. 

[uncfan888]

KB goes down and the huddle goes insane. I wonder what the people that like to complain would be bitching about if he hadn't gotten hurt.

[TheNewStandard]

KB goes down and the huddle goes insane. I wonder what the people that like to complain would be bitching about if he hadn't gotten hurt.

I don't know, I mean...they don't call it the sophomore slump for nothing, so who knows if KB would have even had a great season, just gotta hope that CB, Bene, Boston, Ealy and Turner dont all get hit with the sophomore slump.

before the KB injury, I felt we had a great chance at getting to the conference championship but now I'm not so sure. Doesn't mean I think we'll have a bad season, just that the road is gonna be a little rockier. 

Im still excited about our season, but we need CJ, Ealy and our OLine to be stellar to be able to keep it close against pass-happy teams, 'cause a big chunk of our schedule are against high-scoring teams. We need to be able to get pressure from our D-line and be able to control the clock with the ground-pound and solid contributions from our possession receivers. 

I'm not a chicken-little, just a realist. It's gonna take time for this team to come together and thank goodness the early part of our schedule is manageable and will give our team some time to get things together for the middle-third of our schedule. 

Just hoping things fall into place and no matter what kind of record we have this year, it's gonna go a long way towards making this team a force in the long-term. 

[Guest]

Raiders aren't that much better off either. Michael Crabtree, who had a good year in 2012, but has otherwise been nothing to tell mom about in his career. Then Amari Cooper, who was great in college, but unproven as of yet as he is just a rookie. Things aren't looking great for Oakland either, folks.


We're not in a great spot, but let's not act like we're doomed.

The Raiders have two, maybe three receivers that would be top of our depth chart. Amari Cooper is one of the most polished receivers to come out of college in recent years, and has the potential to be a very good player. Michael Crabtree hasn't been special, but he's got good hands and route running ability. And Rod Streater [another undrafted receiver] showed his ability when he had 66 catches and 888 yards, if he didn't get hurt last season, he could have kicked on from that, and he still could. Even Andre Holmes is an intriguing talent with his size and speed. Not sure who else they have got, but those four are a very solid receiving core with a couple of players with a lot of upside. 

But I do agree that we are not doomed. The belief is still there that Devin Funchess will develop into a legitimate number #2 receiver, who will eventually pair up with Kelvin Benjamin to form a dominant duo. There are also hopes that a new team will help Norwood develop into a decent receiver for us. We have a proven veteran in Cotchery. And that's without considering Greg Olsen is Cam's favorite target, plus capable pass catchers in Mike Tolbert, J-Stew and co. So as a whole we should be ok. 

How so? Douglas had ONE good season. One. Wright is young and shows a ton of promise, but IDK that I'd absolutely take him over Brown or Ginn and considerate an immediate improvement right now, on the hoof. Now, as the season goes, the Douglas/Wright tandem may prove to be more productive, and at that point, I'll redact this statement. I just think Brown and Ginn can produce if given the reps as starters and the opportunity. They haven't been afforded the opportunity and we're writing them off because Brown had a rough preseason and Ginn has only ever been a #3 or #4.

Again, Douglas only showed what he could do once he was able to start 11 games for the Falcons in a season.

Ginn has been drop prone and frustratingly inconsistent his entire career. As a result he has spent the majority of his career as a returns specialist and a mid-to-low depth chart player. As a former ninth overall pick he has been a bust because outside of special teams, he's never really produced much. And Brown is a younger version of Ginn, because he has proved to be drop prone. They might have the ability to stretch the field, but their consistency is questionable. 

As for Douglas and Wright. You are correct that Douglas has only one good season to his name, but he has been behind a depth chart that has included Julio Jones and Roddy White, and until 2013, tight end Tony Gonzalez. His stats may not show it, but he has been a steady slot receiver with decent hands, and when he got the opportunity in 2013 he had a good year. As for Wright, at worst he is a good slot receiver with good hands and route running ability. With the quarterback play he's had to deal with he's shown his ability to be a consistent option. And with better quarterback play he could develop into a thousand yard receiver on a yearly basis. 

When I compare those two duos, there is little doubt that Ginn and Brown probably have the edge as outside receivers that could stretch the field with big plays, but overall Douglas and Wright are more consistent receivers with better hands and route running ability. I would rather have their consistency than two drop prone receivers. Plus, the other thing to bare in mind is that they have two very talented receivers, Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham, at #3 and #4 on their depth chart. As a quartet they have the edge over our receiving core this year.

[Guest]

KB goes down and the huddle goes insane. I wonder what the people that like to complain would be bitching about if he hadn't gotten hurt.

If our depth chart read:

#1 Benjamin / #2 Ginn / #3 Brown / #4 Funchess / #5 Cotchery / #6 Norwood

Then the outlook for the passing game would be different. With Benjamin's presence on the field teams would have to account for him and Greg Olsen. Last season they were both thousand yard receivers with 15 TDs between them. With them both on the field there would be a lot less pressure on the other receivers on the team. It would also take a lot of pressure off Funchess and potentially make his transition to the NFL easier because teams would have a hard time dealing with three big pass catchers. 

Take Benjamin away from this depth chart and there is cause for concern. Greg Olsen is going to see a lot of targets and teams are going to plan for that. So that puts a lot of pressure on Funchess to hit the ground running in his rookie year and breakout, because if he doesn't, or he is simply average, the passing game could struggle. Teams aren't going to worry about two drop prone receivers [Ginn and Brown], a veteran possession receiver [Cotchery], and an unproven receiver [Norwood]. They will double team Olsen, and force Cam to air it out to different targets or force the ball to Olsen. 

Those that are complaining about our receivers are justified because without Benjamin, the outlook of the passing game is not as rosy. With Benjamin it is a whole different outlook.  

[Navy_football]

The OP is right - at least on paper. This is easily the worst #1 and #2 in the league. Not saying Gettleman didn't try to address the issue, but right now they are the worst. Just imagine if GMan wouldn't have picked up Ginn this off season?

[cultclassiccat]

KB goes down and the huddle goes insane. I wonder what the people that like to complain would be bitching about if he hadn't gotten hurt.

im hot just thinking about kb13  going down on me.  Who wouldn't be?

 

Probably just complain about shula(guilty), ron, jerry, threads and or that months version of pantherunited and how we all need to rally and get him bant(guilty)#hivementalityinternetbullying.  Mods/admins will prob come out of the cracks and stroke each other a little, then beg SCP or phillyb to make a thread to create a diversion and poof... Have you checked out all pro?  It's a great way to bypass all the bs, become a snobby fan and get all the real insider panther news while checking out the lovely lola wink wink...kinda something to that effect is my uneducated guess.  

 

He's the biggest and most important piece to this offense outside of cam, we are allowed a grieving/bitching period of at least 1 full calendar yr..  

 

Good morning  

 

[juliosantos]

Just dont get why we dont start funchess hes a 6 foot 4 secound rd pick . Rivera is being stubborn for his vets once again. Another thing I dont understand is why not bring in another wr in ?  I feel bad for cam its always the line or wr core that sucks . But atleast we got a good oline

[Peppers90 NC]

Awwww we feel so bad for poor Cam. That's what this is really about, right?

[Guest]

Just dont get why we dont start funchess hes a 6 foot 4 secound rd pick . Rivera is being stubborn for his vets once again. Another thing I dont understand is why not bring in another wr in ?  I feel bad for cam its always the line or wr core that sucks . But atleast we got a good oline

Funchess may not be ready to start because he's not far enough along in his development, or because he is still recovering from his hamstring injury. I would suspect it is the former rather than the latter. But it is somewhat surprising to see Brown being given the start ahead of him after his preseason struggles with dropping the ball. I suppose Rivera is hoping the faith he is showing in Brown is repaid by him bouncing back and being able to catch the ball again?

The problem with bringing in another receiver is whether there is a receiver out there that is better than what we have on this roster. Free agents like Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker at this stage in their careers are over the hill, and Hakeem Nicks doesn't look like he wants it. Maybe we can revive Hakeem Nicks' career, or find a diamond in the rough, but right now there doesn't appear to be clear cut options that would definitely be an upgrade over what we have right now. There's some players we could pick up with upside, but they could also fall flat as well.