Kelvin Benjamin sprained his knee today, and the NFL and fantasy world held their breath until they found out how severe. And now we know: Torn ACL for the Panthers' top wideout.
Terrible news for the Panthers, who have very little else at wide receiver. Philly (now Corey) Brown, Devin Funchess, Jerricho Cotchery. Those are the currently the team's top 3 wideouts.
For the sake of discussion, is there a team less suited to lose its top wide receiver for any length of time than Carolina? Maybe Dallas? Maybe no one.
In the first exhibition, Brown looked pretty decent; definitely the other starter there. So now he's the No. 1. The team will probably need to sign or trade for somebody; maybe find out if Reggie Wayne has anything left.
Greg Olsen is already a huge part of the offense, of course. Now he'll need to be even bigger, particularly in the red zone. Although he'll be more of a focal point of defenses.
In Carolina's upcoming exhibitions, we'll take a close look at the team's other wide receivers. They'll try to get Funchess up to speed in a hurry, since he's built the same way and theoretically could fill the same role (although not in practice; he doesn't look as talented). Cotchery at least has the veteran savvy and experience; he's probably the other starter.
--Andy Richardson
