I figured it out.

[Jeremy Igo]

I understand why Kelvin and Devin on the field together in a 2 wide set makes zero sense. Totally agree with that. 

For instance.... this play. 

Bucs could not be less concerned with their speed. That single safety hangs out in the middle of the field for a lifetime, knowing he won't have an issue making it to either of the Panthers receivers. They need a speed guy, totally understand and agree. 

My question was.... Why is it mandatory to have Kelvin and Devin both on the field? Can you honestly think of any other coaching staff in the NFL that is afraid to change this up? Are the coaches afraid of the players? How much effort would it take to swap either Kelvin or Devin for Samuel or Clay in this play? Seems like the easiest thing a coach could do. 

Marty Hurney said yesterday how difficult it was to find plays for Samuel. No it fuggin isn't. 

"13 you're out, 10 you're in. Don't like it? Tough poo, play better"

 

So what is the real issue here? 

I have concluded that the real issue is Kelvin's lack of motivation, historically.

If the Panthers thought Kelvin was a better receiver than Funchess, Funchess would not have been traded. Why? Because Funchess has it within him to get less reps and use it as motivation to get better. Funchess has never had motivational issues. 

Now, Kelvin on the other hand constantly shows up overweight and has always had issues giving 100% to begin with. It isn't difficult to find examples of this. Kelvin is a guy that plays football because physically he just can, not because he loves to. Marty Hurney made an effort to point out that Curtis Samuel loved the game and showed a great passion for football. This tells me that aspect of a football player has been on Marty's mind lately. 

Kelvin isn't a guy you can bench and expect to use it as motivation. Kelvin is a guy that gets benched and calls it a season. 

In other words, benching Kelvin would have the same net effect on the team as trading him. He just wouldn't be there anymore. So why not get a couple of draft picks out of him. 

Bottom line: Panthers feel Funchess is the better player and Kelvin would not have recovered mentally from being benched. And as much as I hate to say it, I agree with them. 

[jfra78]

I really think this is Hurney having no confidence in our coaching staff.  I think the writing is on the wall that there will be a coaching change of some kind this off season.

[KillerKat]

This is basically what I said in a nut shell in the gameday thread and the reason why we should trade KB. I wanted a replacement receiver though instead of nothing.

[Chaos]

I agree.  We've seen  instances of KB lacking motivation on the field, either pouting if benched a few plays for boneheaded blocks in the back or holding calls, or giving up on a route, or even giving a half-ass effort to run down the play after a turnover.  Time will tell if Samuel has the fire that KB lacked.

That said, our spineless coaching staff gets off the hook yet again because they cannot manage the personnel on the roster.

[blackcat]

Although the news was initially shocking, these are all great points.  It's is sad, however, that it took Hurndog having the balls to do something his coaching staff wouldn't/couldn't do and 'force' them to utilize other personnel via the trade.  Hate to see KB go, but he's not $8.5 mil next year to us.

[TbTeRRoR]

why do I only count 10 players in that picture?

[Reynman]

Wow...in 24 hrs, you go from arguing one side of the story, to now the other...

try levelheadedness...it works wonders...

[KillerKat]

1 minute ago, TbTeRRoR said:

why do I only count 10 players in that picture?

My God you're right 

[GoobyPls]

Panthers might be the only 5-3 team to ever trade their leading WR midseason.

 

Funchess has been getting the majority of the targets this season and hasn’t done much with them, he’s been blanketed on back to back weeks by second rate corners. 

Lets hope for the best 

[Cary Kollins]

I can get down with this thought, my only question is if Benjamin was even going to be considered for a trade, why didn't Hurney proactively go out and see what his value was for teams other than the Bills?

 

I guess the answer has to do with hurneymagic etc.

[Khyber53]

Yeah, you're right on this. And the move might send the right motivation message to other members of the team, players and coaches alike.

[therealmjl]

12 minutes ago, TbTeRRoR said:

why do I only count 10 players in that picture?

Seriously...this

what am I missing here?

[Jon Snow]

52 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

I understand why Kelvin and Devin on the field together in a 2 wide set makes zero sense. Totally agree with that. 

For instance.... this play. 

Bucs could not be less concerned with their speed. That single safety hangs out in the middle of the field for a lifetime, knowing he won't have an issue making it to either of the Panthers receivers. They need a speed guy, totally understand and agree. 

My question was.... Why is it mandatory to have Kelvin and Devin both on the field? Can you honestly think of any other coaching staff in the NFL that is afraid to change this up? Are the coaches afraid of the players? How much effort would it take to swap either Kelvin or Devin for Samuel or Clay in this play? Seems like the easiest thing a coach could do. 

Marty Hurney said yesterday how difficult it was to find plays for Samuel. No it fuggin isn't. 

"13 you're out, 10 you're in. Don't like it? Tough poo, play better"

 

So what is the real issue here? 

I have concluded that the real issue is Kelvin's lack of motivation, historically.

If the Panthers thought Kelvin was a better receiver than Funchess, Funchess would not have been traded. Why? Because Funchess has it within him to get less reps and use it as motivation to get better. Funchess has never had motivational issues. 

Now, Kelvin on the other hand constantly shows up overweight and has always had issues giving 100% to begin with. It isn't difficult to find examples of this. Kelvin is a guy that plays football because physically he just can, not because he loves to. Marty Hurney made an effort to point out that Curtis Samuel loved the game and showed a great passion for football. This tells me that aspect of a football player has been on Marty's mind lately. 

Kelvin isn't a guy you can bench and expect to use it as motivation. Kelvin is a guy that gets benched and calls it a season. 

In other words, benching Kelvin would have the same net effect on the team as trading him. He just wouldn't be there anymore. So why not get a couple of draft picks out of him. 

Bottom line: Panthers feel Funchess is the better player and Kelvin would not have recovered mentally from being benched. And as much as I hate to say it, I agree with them. 

Then why did it take until Beane called for them to come to this realization?  This has been an issue since the 2016 season.  It didn't start with the Bucs game.   There were ample opportunities to change personnel in the off season and all the way up to the trade deadline.  They only had this epiphany when Beane called to acquire KB.  I'm calling BS.

[DaveThePanther2008]

42 minutes ago, jfra78 said:

I really think this is Hurney having no confidence in our coaching staff.  I think the writing is on the wall that there will be a coaching change of some kind this off season.

I will join the Hurney bandwagon if he dumps Shula, at minimum, this off season.  He could can Rivera too and hire Wilks to take over and I would give him another shot at GM.