KELVIN BENJAMIN IS MISSING AN 'S'

[the butch]

In Cam's words:  "size, speed, and . . . strength?"  Not physical; he's got that in spades.  Mental strength.  Let me explain:

He’s hot and cold in his technique and celebrates the small things.  But mostly it’s the inconsistent effort and lackadaisical play.  It leads one to believe he’s content with his current level of success.  Or perhaps this is the result of being so physically dominant at the college level on down.  If you do it because you’re good at it as a kid and are validated by the attention it produces, then maybe it’s not such a fun thing when the attention goes away and you don’t want to work at getting better.  But who am I to judge?  I imagine there are various threads of thought that weave into the reasons why, but as it stands, KB is not a baller.  What I mean by that is a Michael Jordan-esque will to win.  Luke has it.  Smitty has it.  TD has it.  Jerry Rice.  Brett Favre. 

The good news is none of that means KB cannot contribute right now.  Rivera will just have to start re-assigning roles, much like he did with Kony Ealy.  The lack of a #1 WR didn’t hurt us much in 2015, the chief reason for that being a dominant TE, veteran possession hands, and an offense’s power that had finally been harnessed through years of work.  Next season will continue the trend of Cam in the pocket.  Offseason homework and training will revolve around that. Offensive concepts designed around the short passing game will be emphasized. 

The new-look Panthers will once again have the advantage of introducing an unknown to NFL DCs.  The effectiveness of the offense obviously depends on quite a number of other items.  But generally, Luke is still the MLB.  Cam is still the QB (though fissures are beginning to show).  Rivera still has house money, but he ought to venture over to the $5 tables.  And the NFLS is still a relatively easy division to win.  KB is not a #1, but it doesn’t mean he’s bad; indeed, he has plenty of talent to contribute at this level.  But let him do what he’s good at, and learn the other stuff as needed.  Force-feeding a player to temper his ego is putting the cart before the horse, and has in the past ended in one side or the other being fired.

Long story long:  If* our beloved Shula can work with Cam then KB can have success, and the Panthers can win, and the fans get another NFCS championship/playoff birth.  Yay!

Impetus came from Joe Person (wins Gold for most generic name ever) article found here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article125046019.html.  And then I got to thinking about KB’s time with the team since being drafted, his college performance, on down to high school.  This resulted.  Happy Offseason, Huddle.

*A novel could fill the space between these two letters.

 

Please leave your comments in the section below/ 

[top dawg]

If I understand what you're suggesting, I said a few times the second half of the season that Rivera/Shula  needed to get more players involved at the receiver position. The starters, including Benjamin, arguably didn't have their heads all there this past season, and it showed in the incomplete routes and drops. Unlike some though, I don't believe that we should dump or even necessarily disparage KB, because considering that he was coming off injury in what was effectively his Sophomore season, he was solid. Being a part of this Panther's offense, and lacking the speed and route running prowess, he will never put up true WR1 numbers (as in a top 5 WR in the league), but he doesn't have to, and neither do any of our receivers. As a guy---one of the guys---and not the guy, Benjamin can be a key part of our offense for years to come.

[Daeavorn]

I don't see how we can keep Cams specialty and change as an offense. Hearing the front office's lack of unity of this subject REALLY is making me brace for something less than good. I don't see how we can trust Shula to evolve.

[Snake]

8 minutes ago, Daeavorn said:

I don't see how we can keep Cams specialty and change as an offense. Hearing the front office's lack of unity of this subject REALLY is making me brace for something less than good. I don't see how we can trust Shula to evolve.

Shula was the one last year campaigning for another TE because the Panthers got figured out. 

[Pimpdaddy]

...if we ever get a scheme that works, this combo has the ability to be great...lots of sht has to happen though....

[beastson]

Quote

And while Newton sounded a little defensive about the idea of an offseason overhaul – “I don’t know what evolve means,” he said after the Week 17 loss at Tampa Bay – he also doesn’t want to endure another 6-10 season.

“We just gotta get (back) to winning football games,” he said. “So if that’s what it’s going to take, then I’m for it.”

Sad

[a_gumbel]

No no, he has all 3 S's: size strength and snacks.

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

i just don't get it, you draft two 6 foot 5 bahemouths of WR's and you fail to call plays to fit your personnel. The few times Cam has decided to just chuck it up to KB, how often does he come up with the ball? Almost 50% of time I'd say, if not more. What about back shoulder passes to the sidelines, where KB and Funch can use their massive bodies to box out DB's and jump up and snag the ball from the air. The success rate would be huge on those plays. 

Instead Shula calls long developing post patterns or deep outs or go routes where KB and Funch have to outrun the entire secondary to have a chance. Just doesn't make sense. 

DG has to interject at some point and state the obvious to Shula, b/c clearly he's blind to see how to use the personnel he's been given. 

 

[gmonjimbo]

29 minutes ago, E CaT PanTHer 2 said:

i just don't get it, you draft two 6 foot 5 bahemouths of WR's and you fail to call plays to fit your personnel. The few times Cam has decided to just chuck it up to KB, how often does he come up with the ball? Almost 50% of time I'd say, if not more. What about back shoulder passes to the sidelines, where KB and Funch can use their massive bodies to box out DB's and jump up and snag the ball from the air. The success rate would be huge on those plays. 

Instead Shula calls long developing post patterns or deep outs or go routes where KB and Funch have to outrun the entire secondary to have a chance. Just doesn't make sense. 

DG has to interject at some point and state the obvious to Shula, b/c clearly he's blind to see how to use the personnel he's been given. 

 

One thing that I liked about  Rivera's interview 2 weeks ago was that he talked about his off season plans: first he will do coach evaluations, then player evaluations, then finally he will look at the scheme on offense. Hopefully he finds out that the scheme did not put his players in the best position to succeed. 

[KillerKat]

KB is the weakest 6'5 WR I've ever seen in the NFL. Catch in Traffic rating: ZERO.

[top dawg]

19 minutes ago, gmonjimbo said:

 Hopefully he finds out that the scheme did not put his players in the best position to succeed. 

He should have figured that out at halftime of most the games.

[Daeavorn]

2 hours ago, Snake said:

Shula was the one last year campaigning for another TE because the Panthers got figured out. 

Yeah because he sucks at scheming and needs superior talent to win.

[MechaZain]

He's missing speed too tho...


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[iamhubby1]

5 hours ago, top dawg said:

If I understand what you're suggesting, I said a few times the second half of the season that Rivera/Shula  needed to get more players involved at the receiver position. The starters, including Benjamin, arguably didn't have their heads all there this past season, and it showed in the incomplete routes and drops. Unlike some though, I don't believe that we should dump or even necessarily disparage KB, because considering that he was coming off injury in what was effectively his Sophomore season, he was solid. Being a part of this Panther's offense, and lacking the speed and route running prowess, he will never put up true WR1 numbers (as in a top 5 WR in the league), but he doesn't have to, and neither do any of our receivers. As a guy---one of the guys---and not the guy, Benjamin can be a key part of our offense for years to come.

 

The kid almost had back to back 1,000 yard seasons. That may not be elite. But as you alluded too, it is darn good, and it fits what we want to do.

 

I would also add, that he had shoulder problems most of the year. So he wasn't exactly healthy all year, after missing a whole year. Let's see what he comes back as next year before we go all bat poo on the kid.

 

4 hours ago, E CaT PanTHer 2 said:

i just don't get it, you draft two 6 foot 5 bahemouths of WR's and you fail to call plays to fit your personnel. The few times Cam has decided to just chuck it up to KB, how often does he come up with the ball? Almost 50% of time I'd say, if not more. What about back shoulder passes to the sidelines, where KB and Funch can use their massive bodies to box out DB's and jump up and snag the ball from the air. The success rate would be huge on those plays. 

Instead Shula calls long developing post patterns or deep outs or go routes where KB and Funch have to outrun the entire secondary to have a chance. Just doesn't make sense. 

DG has to interject at some point and state the obvious to Shula, b/c clearly he's blind to see how to use the personnel he's been given. 

 

 

I understand what you are saying, and yes, there does seem to be a lack of imagination with our Passing Game. But, I would like to add that we do use the whole route tree, with all our WRs. So it isn't that we don't run them, we just don't seem to run them well.

 

IMO, better route running is something all our WRs need to work on this off-season. Cleaner, crisper routes. And catch the dang ball with your hands would ya. Teddy, IMO, is the best WR we have where hand catching is concerned.