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Some General Thoughts and Future Implications of Our Young WR Core

Pantha-kun

By Pantha-kun,
in Carolina Panthers

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Pantha-kun Mentor

Pantha-kun

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Here's some of the details of our current WRs . I'm including McCaffrey because he currently leads the team in receptions and receiving yards among active players, and sees alot of time in the slot and out wide. Notice that the oldest WR we have is 27 (Shepard) , and the average age for this group is 24 YEARS OLD. This is the first thing that stood out to me, I don't think we have a single WR that could be considered a veteran at the position. 

  1. Devin Funchess / Age: 23 / 6'4'' / 225
  2. Rusell Shepard / Age: 27/ 6'1'' / 195
  3. Curtis Samuel / Age : 21/ 5'11'' /195
  4. Kaelin Clay / Age : 25/ 5'10'' / 195
  5. Brenton Bersin / Age : 27/ 6'3''/ 205
  6. Damiere Byrd / Age : 24 / 5'9'' / 180
  7. Christian McCaffrey / Age : 21 / 5'11 / 205


Ive been impressed mostly with Funchess this season especially in games like vs Detroit where he appears to be fighting for yards and at times out muscling people. He's never going to be a burner or an outspoken leader but I'm hoping he succeeds as the #1 option here. Keep in mind dude is only 23 still.

I honestly dont know what exactly Shepard is, he's great on special teams and he's shown in some instances he can bounce off tackles and get skinny , weave through traffic well, and has decent speed. He's the oldest starting WR but he's still quite inexperienced at the position and hasn't been used THAT much, but with KB gone he could potentially be the #2. Funchess has been quoted and observed to not be that type of leadership personality so I'm wondering if its going to be Shepard that really steps up in KBs absense .

When Byrd gets back, we would have what I consider 4 different receiving options that are fast ( Samuel , Clay, Byrd, McCaffrey) , so the options are most certainly there , its really up to the coaches how much they want to get them involved in the game. 

Despite them being rookies, I think its quite obvious that much of the success of the WRs is going to be reliant on Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel. McCaffrey's already had a monsterous number of receptions (#3 in the NFL currently) and I think hes going to get even more looks with KB gone. McCaffrey's already been good but I think the Weapon X of the entire offense is Curtis Samuel. Yea he's probably not ready yet but its exceedingly obvious that he is by far the fastest, shiftiest dude on the team . Needs to work alot on his ball skills and fundamentals of the WR position, but when he gets there, I think he'll be a great WR with potential to be much better than Ginn JR. Cam needs to keep going to him down the field to get his confidence up so he can emerge as our primary vertical threat.  And I think the coaches need to have both of them on the field for at least 25 %  of offensive snaps.

Clay looks like a really good returner , but I honestly dont know how much the coaches will be using him and Byrd when he gets back in games at WR. But I like the idea of having a couple speedsters in reserve and most likely, one of them should at least be seeing a few snaps a game . 

Its looking like we're not going to need any WRs in next years draft at all, we have the speed and the size . What we really need to do is get some very good veteran WR next offseason in free agency. Besides getting some power back in the 2nd-5th rounds like Chubb, Freeman, or Scarborough, I think we have enough offensive talent to almost completely focus on defense and rebuilding the oline in the 2018 draft. I think its more up in the air than you may believe where Buffalo will finish out the season, and that extra 3rd rounder could be huge in us making some sort of package to get up and get a great player in the 2nd round by using our couple of 3rds and the 2nd as bargaining chips. 

 

 

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Joe the Show Explorer

Joe the Show

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We are going to learn a lot about the future of our offense in the next 8 games.  If Curtis Samuel can help the WR core grow into a threat to defenses, then good things are coming.  If defenses aren't forced to adjust by this addition of speed, then the search for WRs must continue.

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Byrdman4real Mentor

Byrdman4real

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This weeks game will tell alot about the direction the staff wants to go in. The persional used at what time and position will be under heavy evaluation. Fuchess will most definitely be playing in KB place. Shepherd and Samuel have to step up in major ways. Dont know clays responsibility besides punt returns. Bersin is the slow one but does have great reliability at times. Byrd might not get activated if this set of receivers produce in positive ways. Only two can come off IR and Olsen is a lock to return. Byrd will be the last if needed, but he does have great blocking skills, which he was highly used for before his injury. He also has demonstrated his deep ball skills in the preseason, which is why the coaches is very interested in his return.

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Pantha-kun Mentor

Pantha-kun

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14 minutes ago, Braz said:

Samuel or Shepard in fantasy? I'm in a pinch with a bunch of players on bye and can't bring myself to start Randall Cobb. Thanks in advance

I wouldn't start anyone on our offense in fantasy, this year in general has not been good statistically for any one player on our offense. Just look at the box score for almost any game, the only standout performances were Dickson's and McCaffrey's 100 receiving yard game against the Saints, and Cam's games against NE and Detroit. Our offense is very unreliable and we just lost KB, there's no telling whats going to happen.

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Ricky Spanish Grand Master

Ricky Spanish

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43 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

This is the worst WR roster on paper that we've ever had. Yes, worse than '15.

Hopefully this move will free up Funchess or Samuel or Shepard to really step up, but we'll see. 

 

I don't disagree.

Way more potential than the '15 roster, but the production and proven history is not there. They are definitely some wee babes. 

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jfra78 Veteran

jfra78

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1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

This is the worst WR roster on paper that we've ever had. Yes, worse than '15.

Hopefully this move will free up Funchess or Samuel or Shepard to really step up, but we'll see. 

 

IDK '01 was pretty bad.  Smith was a returner, so you had Moose and a bunch of nobodies

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