The general consensus is that the Panthers are doomed at wide receiver. But is that accurate?
They cut loose Steve Smith, and they didn’t re-sign Brandon LaFell and Ted Ginn, Jr. That’s their three top receivers from last year.
But is that such a bad thing? We’re not talking about a Pro Bowl trio. Smith is getting awfully old, and LaFell and Ginn are just guys.
Carolina selected Kelvin Benjamin in the first round. We’ll see if they can develop him. And they signed a couple of veterans, Jerricho Cotchery and Jason Avant.
Cotchery and Avant are generally dismissed as journeymen, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I’d rather have either of those guys then either Ginn or LaFell, I think.
Avant, I know, has dropped fewer balls than anyone over the last two years. I think one in 152 attempts.
And consider receiving stats inside the 10 last year. Cotchery scored on 6 of the 10 passes that were thrown to him. Among the 25 players with at least 10 attempts, that was No. 1.
| RECEIVING INSIDE THE 10 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Att | Com | Pct | TD | Pct |
| 1 | Jerricho Cotchery | 10 | 6 | 60% | 6 | 60% |
| 2 | Brandon Marshall | 16 | 10 | 63% | 9 | 56% |
| 3 | Marlon Brown | 11 | 8 | 73% | 6 | 55% |
| 4 | Julian Edelman | 11 | 8 | 73% | 6 | 55% |
| 5 | Wes Welker | 15 | 10 | 67% | 8 | 53% |
| 6 | Dez Bryant | 18 | 11 | 61% | 9 | 50% |
| 7 | Jimmy Graham | 17 | 10 | 59% | 8 | 47% |
| 8 | Joseph Fauria | 13 | 6 | 46% | 6 | 46% |
| 9 | Jordan Cameron | 11 | 6 | 55% | 5 | 45% |
| 10 | Jason Witten | 11 | 6 | 55% | 5 | 45% |
| 11 | Emmanuel Sanders | 11 | 7 | 64% | 5 | 45% |
| 12 | Vernon Davis | 12 | 6 | 50% | 5 | 42% |
| 13 | Keenan Allen | 10 | 4 | 40% | 4 | 40% |
| 14 | Demaryius Thomas | 11 | 6 | 55% | 4 | 36% |
| 15 | Calvin Johnson | 11 | 5 | 45% | 4 | 36% |
| 16 | Pierre Garcon | 11 | 5 | 45% | 4 | 36% |
| 17 | Eric Decker | 14 | 7 | 50% | 5 | 36% |
| 18 | Larry Fitzgerald | 13 | 7 | 54% | 4 | 31% |
| 19 | Andre Johnson | 11 | 6 | 55% | 3 | 27% |
| 20 | Alshon Jeffery | 12 | 4 | 33% | 3 | 25% |
| 21 | A.J. Green | 12 | 5 | 42% | 3 | 25% |
| 22 | Danny Woodhead | 12 | 10 | 83% | 3 | 25% |
| 23 | Jordy Nelson | 11 | 5 | 45% | 2 | 18% |
| 24 | Cecil Shorts III | 11 | 3 | 27% | 2 | 18% |
| 25 | Josh Gordon | 11 | 1 | 9% | 1 | 9% |
—Ian Allan