Kelvin Benjamin is
not a true number 1 NFL wide receiver in my opinion. Benjamin is not
a burner, does not have the best hands and is lazy in his route
running. That does not mean that the Carolina Panthers can't get some
use out of Benjamin.
Kelvin Benjamin can
be a good move the chains possession receiver using his size to box
out defenders, especially in the red zone. If all the negative
attention Kelvin Benjamin is getting for being overweight motivates
him then all the better.
Some Panthers fans
will defend Kelvin Benjamin to the death or even longer! Yes Benjamin
had a bad knee injury and yes his states look ok to the naked eye. I
just don't think KB is a legit number one wide receiver and I also
don't think it matters very much.
Cam Newton had the
best season of his career and won the NFL MVP without Kelvin Benjamin
and a true number one wide receiver. Greg Olsen is the key target in
the passing game and now with the rookie additions the Panthers
The Panthers want to
try to incorporate some of the Patriots offense into their own
playbook. The Patriots offense really looks like a West Coast offense
to me with lots of short, quick throws. This helps a quarterback
prevent being hit so often and negates to a degree a bad offensive
line.
The big question is
how Cam Newton will adapt to that style of offense, after missing a
lot of off season time recovering from a late shoulder surgery. Cam
also is not the most accurate short passer and may break some fingers
with his fastball on short throws. I think Cam is better suited to a
Norv Turner offense with deep drops and long, deep throws.
That being said I
have seen Cam play some of his best football when the Panthers speed
him up in the hurry up offense. If they do some of that with the
short throws, then Cam could do well in this offense despite not
having a true number one wide receiver.
Photo By Keith Allison - Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35800679
