Devin Funchess may be better than we think

[thefuzz]

35 minutes ago, SOJA said:

The thing about WRs is that there are very few true number one WRs in the NFL: Brown, Julio, OBJ, Hopkins and maybe a few more Green, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans, and Michael Thomas are on the cusp 

Funch, Samuel and Moore all can be great WRs- probably will never be as good as those top tier guys but I'll take 3 greats for Cam anyday

Yup.  There are very few top tier MLB's.  Very few great T's.  Very few great CB's.

Not every team has a "no. 1" WR, heck, neither of the SB teams had a no. 1.

[My Goodness My Guinness]

The fan classification of a number 1 WR always cracks me up. Funchess is a solid starter and a top 25 WR, yet our fans say he is an okay WR2 but we need a WR1! No, we just need an alternative option opposite of him, which it looks like we may have in Smith/Moore. 

[TheRed]

Most fans here seem to agree he is a very solid #2 option. He still has room for growth. He's got a good head on his shoulders. If he can build up his swagger more and make better use of his frame he could really bully DB's. We've seen flashes, but we've also seen some timidness, if he takes another step this season you could really begin to see him abuse some guys like Julio Jones. But he's going to have to be more aggressive. Time will tell.

[MechaZain]

100% on contested catches is very, very impressive considering he's been the guy. Should tear it up now that he has help.

[Moo Daeng]

Typical Response Summarized:

"He's not the best, so he sucks"

"He didn't catch that one bad pass. He sucks"

"He's not the fastest player, so he sucks"

 

[OneBadCat]

I think Funchess has #1 WR potential. Excited to see what he does this year.

[Car123]

Do we pay him or let him walk if he has 79 catches 1080 yards 6 tds this season?? 

 

[Captain Morgan]

Funch is 23 years old, starting his 4th NFL season.

He's just coming into his prime physically, and has experience.

[Carolina Cajun]

I've been big on the funchess bandwagon, his second half last year told me that he can be a legit #1.  Had he not gotten injured down the stretch, I think he may have even been able to hit 1k last year.  For him, it's gonna be about health, if he can stay healthy, then he can be the #1 we've been looking for.

[AU-panther]

How many #1 receivers are there in the league?

Personally I only think there are a handful of receivers in the league that are truly elite, the rest are products of the system they play in and the QB that is throwing to them.

[backINblack28]

I think Funchess was hurt a good bit of last year.  He played a man's game playing hurt in the Pats game, and I think he was dealing with a more serious injury sustained in the TB game that he played with the rest of the year.  If you go back and see that in the Tampa game and then see his effort the rest of the year/especially in the playoff game....I think this kid is about to explode.  He's the same age as Calvin Ridley, btw.

[Davidson Deac II]

I am surprised at the contested catches number.  I don't remember him catching many when he had a body on him.  

[d-dave]

Doesn't it take MOST NFL WRs 3 years to develop?  The KB Class kind of rocked that, and OBJ has put up crazy numbers.  But more often we hear about how rookie WRs are just too raw to be productive early on.

That being said, I am really looking forward to seeing Funchess this season with more options around him.  Would it hurt anyone's feelings if our offense had three WRs with 60+ catchs, 800+ yards, and 7+ TDs?

I think that's possible with Funchess, Olsen, CMC, Moore, etc...  So long as we can put up points in these shootout games, and push ourselves further into the playoffs to compete for the Championship and Super Bowl.  Well, that's my hope for the season.

[doogy902]

Funchess is still only 24 years old. Expectation from him was definitely too high to start his career. This is why, although I love DJ as a prospect, he's only 21 and Funchess/Greg/CMC should continue to dominate the target share.