Funchess losing snaps weekly

[Ricky Spanish]

Not hitting the panic button yet. Hopefully the drops are due to his body mind and eyes all being on different pages from being a rookie. 

he's just a kid. Cool your jets people. 

[Servant of Cthululelei]

Everyone focuses WAAAAY too much on drops.  And it's almost as if they've forgotten how much Bengi dropped it last year.  Funchess has made a few important plays for our team this year.  He's also made some mistakes that our opponents capitalized on.  It happens.  Cam hasn't lost faith in him yet, so neither have I.  He'll be a good player for us.  Just probably not this year, unless he catches the same "Panthers in December" fire that everyone else seems to every year.

[CatMan72]

He's a rookie, we were spoiled by Benjamin last year. 

Don't blame coaches for taking snaps away based on his performance thus far, but they're not giving up on him. 

I do think we need to take a serious look at trading for a vet WR before the deadline, this team has a chance to go all the way and your weaknesses are usually amplified in the playoffs... our most significant weakness right now is our lack of playmakers at the WR position. We need to call losing teams with vets who could help to see what it would take (no, not Smitty). 

[nickzz]

people are writing off his terrible play as "omg rookie mistake spot minutes get over it he'll develop wow" but in reality he looks absolutely terrible even for a rookie. i've never seen a WR look so spastic when he runs and catches.

 

i'm not going to say he's a bust because some guys take a long time to develop, but my expectations are at pretty much zero. he shouldn't be on the field his rookie year at all.

[PantherRN]

I wish they would hit him on some easy routes along the sidelines to build up his confidence. Some of the catches they are asking him to make over the middle are tough even for a seasoned vet.

[Bartin]

people are writing off his terrible play as "omg rookie mistake spot minutes get over it he'll develop wow" but in reality he looks absolutely terrible even for a rookie. i've never seen a WR look so spastic when he runs and catches.

 

i'm not going to say he's a bust because some guys take a long time to develop, but my expectations are at pretty much zero. he shouldn't be on the field his rookie year at all.

Agreed. It's actually fairly rare that a WR looks bad early on then develops and turns into a star. At this point I'm hoping we got Brandon LaFell and not Dwayne Jarrett.

[SixMileDrive]

Funchess reminds me a lot of Benjamin last year. Drops the easy passes, makes the more difficult ones. Yes he hasn't produced on the level KB produced last year through 6 games, but give it some time. The dude shows promise, and he's extremely raw. 

have you guys ever heard of the Wide Receiver Three Year Rule? 

I'm too busy at work to go through past rookie campaigns, but I can guarantee you there's a ton of WR's who struggled their rookie years only to turn the corner (pun intended) and become top 5 WR's in this league. 

 

Randall Cobb was a second round pick WR a few years back. Rookie season was pretty bad...

Year	Team	Games	Receptions	Yards	Yards per Catch	Longest Reception	Touchdowns	Fumbles	Fumbles Lost
2011	GB	15	25	375	15.0	61	1	3	3

[Khyber53]

The key to getting more snaps for guys like Funchess and CAP is garbage time. Either we need to be skunking someone or getting blown out ourselves. So far, we haven't had a good safe lead where we can send in our young ones and second stringers to get some experience/save our starters.

I'm betting that Funchess is getting a first rate education on being a receiver here. These things don't always go fast, though.

[Bartin]

Randall Cobb was a second round pick WR a few years back. Rookie season was pretty bad...

Year	Team	Games	Receptions	Yards	Yards per Catch	Longest Reception	Touchdowns	Fumbles	Fumbles Lost
2011	GB	15	25	375	15.0	61	1	3	3

That team had Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, James Jones and Greg Jennings at WR with Jermichael Finley at TE. He was buried on the depth chart and still put up 375.

[GoobyPls]

If he doesn't start showing signs of improvement as the season goes by, I really hope the panthers draft a receiver next year. Panthers are ready to win now, and if he isn't ready to contribute might as well get someone that is.

[Woodie]

He isn't looking bad, he's looking inconsistent.  There's a huge difference between the two.  Yes, he's had some drops, but for the most part, they weren't layup catches either.  True, he should have caught them, but they either came in like a bullet, were slightly off target, or both.  But then he has come back and made some very nice catches.

To me, the problem seems to be more of an adjustment to the NFL and the power Cam brings to his passes than an inability to catch.  It's the same reason I wasn't too concerned with KB's drops last year.  Both of them have shown nice soft hands and the ability to bring in the difficult catch, and their drops appear to be more of easily correctable factors.  But the fact that Funchess has significantly improved his route running and ability to power through jams is a real positive and shows that he will put in the work to get better.   

[TheNewStandard]

I don't think it is silly to expect a WR to catch passes.

That's what he was drafted to do.

I can see him not being a great blocker or route runner as a rookie, but IMHO, he should be able to catch the ball.

Not real high on trading away draft choices and trading up to get a WR who can't catch.  The Panthers have too many holes still.  In my mind, the first and second round, they must have starters or competitors who can step in for starters, not projects.  Projects are round 3 forward.

Just saying what I see. 

 

 

who needs draft picks. Half of our team (over-exaggerating,) are UDFAs. 

We're money in our first 4-5 rounds...after that, it's a crapshoot.

[B.BERSIN]

WR, DE and QB are three positions need more time to develop.

[panthers55]

Funchess isn't a project in the sense of needing 3 or 4 years to develop. He is having the kind of season many rookie receivers go through as they learn and improve their technique. The success we has with Benjamin makes everyone else pale by comparison.  He isn't great at catching Cams high fast ones. If he wants to make it hear he is going to have to improve or at least not bat the ball up into the air. The best way to lose the confidence of your quarterback is to have the ball intercepted because the receiver didn't catch the ball or at least knock it down.