Still the same ol' twin towers? I hope not.

[top dawg]

Bill Voth did tweet something telling, if not disturbing, today:

Put that together with a piece by USA Today's Lucas Ewing about the problems of Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess, and you can see why some concern about the complete makeup of our receiving corp is easily justified.

Ewing rightly notes that in 2016, both Benjamin and Funchess had very concerning problems, which is lack of separation for both, and DF's catch percentage

 

"Benjamin is a big wide receiver. At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, he’s by no means the team’s the quickest player. That’s no excuse for his consistent lack of separation, though. Benjamin only managed 1.8 yards of separation on average, which ranked dead last among NFL players with 20 or more receptions in 2016.

"Benjamin’s problem lies mostly in his poor route running. His routes are rudimentary and offer almost no ‘bait’ for the cornerback to take."

 

"Funchess only recorded three drops in 2016, which would account for five percent of his targets. This leaves 56 percent of passes between him and Newton going off the rails somewhere. What also may have contributed to his lack of success is due to the fact that Funchess ranked third-to-last in separation, as well."

 

Now you might say that this is no newsflash, and you'd be right. But perhaps the biggest problem is that the same lack of separation issues have showed up at the joint practice. I encourage you to view the sample videos that Ewing uses to support his assertion.

http://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2017/08/17/why-panthers-wrs-kelvin-benjamin-and-devin-funchess-struggled-in-2016/

Of course Funchess and Cam are likely not able to work on their chemistry issues at this point while Cam is on limited duty, but hopefully they're at least discussing the issues and getting on the same page from a mental standpoint. Cam can't afford to force the ball to Benjamin who apparently needs to continue to refine his route running. I'm about sick of the notion that he doesn't have to run great routes because of his size. I've never ever seen him do what Mike Evans did in the video. It's kind of sobering really.

Now, don't get me wrong, I believe that the talent is there with both. Moreover, I believe that a dynamic playmaker in the slot (hopefully Curtis Samuel) may help out somewhat with opening it up for the others, but it's obviously not all sunshine and rainbows in my mind. If these problems aren't adequately addressed---and quickly---then our passing offense will be stuttering out of the gate and again be limited and somewhat unfulfilling for another season. 

And don't even get me started about Damiere Byrd dropping at least three balls today. Or the usually sure-handed Brenton Bersin bobbling a ball into an interception. Our wide receiving corps may need a shot in the arm (yeah, outside help), or at least a kick in the ass. 

[*FreeFua*]

How this team just let Desean Jackson sign with th bucs on a very fair deal for both sides is beyond me.

He was exactly what this offense needed. They better pray Samuel gets healthy and more than exceeds expectations this year or it'll be the same old story on offense for us. 

Everyone likes to sh*t on Ginn but when used correctly he was good for us. Shula asked him to run many routes he had no business running and that's not on Ginn.

[beastson]

3 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

How this team just let Desean Jackson sign with th bucs on a very fair deal for both sides is beyond me.

He was exactly what this offense needed. They better pray Samuel gets healthy and more than exceeds expectations this year or it'll be the same old story on offense for us. 

Everyone likes to sh*t on Ginn but when used correctly he was good for us. Shula asked him to run many routes he had no business running and that's not on Ginn.

Right so Samuel should work out

[Udogg]

If the O-line holds up we will be fine.  However as long as we have the receivers we have, the margin or error will be razor tight from now until we fix it. 

 

[top dawg]

3 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

How this team just let Desean Jackson sign with th bucs on a very fair deal for both sides is beyond me.

He was exactly what this offense needed. They better pray Samuel gets healthy and more than exceeds expectations this year or it'll be the same old story on offense for us. 

Everyone likes to sh*t on Ginn but when used correctly he was good for us. Shula asked him to run many routes he had no business running and that's not on Ginn.

Well, fug man. Somebody had to run those routes. It was G-man's responsibility to get us someone who could. He just waited too long to do it. Moreover, he's the one that acquired Benjamin and then doubled down with Funchess. I'm not saying that they are exact carbon copies because I believe Funchess is a better route runner, but they are both bigger receivers who up to this point haven't consistently gotten separation.

[LinvilleGorge]

I never liked the idea of trying to pair KB with another oversized WR. Still hoping Funchess can prove that he can be more than what he's shown so far.

[*FreeFua*]

Just now, top dawg said:

Well, fug man. Somebody had to run those routes. It was G-man's responsibility to get us someone who could. 

Yeah you're right, I can't even put that on Shula 

[Castavar]

This is why you draft actual WRs that can run great routes instead of size dependent WRs. It's like we either depend on speed or size, totally negating whether they can actually run a decent route or not. And then we wonder why year after year Cam can never find anybody open. Keenan Allen is a good example. Slow as sh*t, but run some MEAN routes and gets so much separation.

That being said, KB is fine for what he is. A big bodied receiver that can win jump balls. Where we fugged up is doubling down with a lesser big bodied receiver. Kind of redundant.

[top dawg]

Hell, I know why we didn't get D-Jax, but I'll be damned if we couldnct have landed Cruz (who looks pretty good so far, at least in action).

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, Castavar said:

This is why you draft actual WRs that can run great routes instead of size dependent WRs. It's like we either depend on speed or size, totally negating whether they can actually run a decent route or not. And then we wonder why year after year Cam can never find anybody open. Keenan Allen is a good example. Slow as sh*t, but run some MEAN routes and gets so much separation.

Yep. One of my criticisms of Gettleman is that he didn't draft WRs, he drafted athletes who fit the mold of what he envisioned as a WR. 

[top dawg]

3 minutes ago, Castavar said:

This is why you draft actual WRs that can run great routes instead of size dependent WRs. It's like we either depend on speed or size, totally negating whether they can actually run a decent route or not. And then we wonder why year after year Cam can never find anybody open. Keenan Allen is a good example. Slow as sh*t, but run some MEAN routes and gets so much separation.

That being said, KB is fine for what he is. A big bodied receiver that can win jump balls. Where we fugged up is doubling down with a lesser big bodied receiver. Kind of redundant.

I don't agree that KB is fine for what he is. He needs to be better, big-bodied or not.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, top dawg said:

I don't agree that KB is fine for what he is. He needs to be better, big-bodied or not.

Never understood the people who dog KB for putting up nearly 1000 yards in the two seasons he's played while so many hold out hope for Funchess to become this mythical #1 WR.

Sure, I'd like to see KB be more consistent, but he's definitely not a problem for this WR corps.

[Ace_Aladdin]

2 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Never understood the people who dog KB for putting up nearly 1000 yards in the two seasons he's played while so many hold out hope for Funchess to become this mythical #1 WR.

Sure, I'd like to see KB be more consistent, but he's definitely not a problem for this WR corps.

Byrd, Samuels, Ross, &  Shepard should provide that speed. 

Also we should use more 2 TE set. 

[Basbear]

22 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

How this team just let Desean Jackson sign with th bucs on a very fair deal for both sides is beyond me.

He was exactly what this offense needed. They better pray Samuel gets healthy and more than exceeds expectations this year or it'll be the same old story on offense for us. 

Everyone likes to sh*t on Ginn but when used correctly he was good for us. Shula asked him to run many routes he had no business running and that's not on Ginn.

While djack and cam are buds, he has a terrible rep of being lazy and unprepared(In weight room and film room). Has boo-boos that kept him from praticing, mainly leg "issues". He's a bad fit, besides cam and game day yac.