Our WR Situation Heading into Week 17 and Playoffs

[Pantha-kun]

Who exactly are our #2 , #3 WRs? How confident do you feel going into next week and the wild card round that our WR core can get the job done?

Here's the current stats for our active WRs 

1. Devin Funchess  / 61 receptions (106 targets) [58% catch rate] / 792 yards / 7 TDs 
2. Russell Shepard / 17 receptions (33 targets) [52% catch rate] / 202 yards/ 1 TD
3. Brenton Bersin / 6 receptions (9 targets) [67% catch rate] / 92 yards / 0 TDs
4. Kaelin Clay / 4 receptions (13 targets ) [31% catch rate]  / 42 yards / 0 TDs 

Currently Active Non-WRs that are nevertheless important to our passing game

1. Christian McCaffrey (RB) / 75 receptions (105 targets) [71% catch rate] / 611 yards / 5 TDs 
2. Ed Dickson (TE) / 28 receptions (44 targets ) [64% catch rate]  / 415 yards / 1 TD 
3. Greg Olsen ( TE) / 16 receptions (29 targets) [55% catch rate] / 181 yards / 1 TD
4. Jonathan Stewart (RB) / 8 receptions (15 targets) [53% catch rate] / 52 yards / 1 TD

Average Recptions per game Per Game : 

McCaffrey (5.0 ) Funchess (4.1) Olsen (2.7)  Dickson (1.9)  Shepard (1.2) Bersin (1.0), Stewart (0.5) , Clay (0.4) 

So what I gather from this data is 

• Clay is our fastest active WR but by far our least dependable receiving option at an abysmal 31% catch rate
• Our #2 RB is our leading receiver in receptions and is also the most reliable target on the roster with a 71% catch rate (And keep in mind cam is Completing 60.5% of his passes) 

 

So in my mind we have CMC, Funchess, Olsen, and everyone else. We really will need at least one of Shepard, Bersin, Clay to really step up to become a good WR 2 . 

[JakeDel5674]

That is not going to beat New Orleans, no matter what these positive clowns on here think.  Period.  

[Troys99x3]

5 minutes ago, JakeDel5674 said:

That is not going to beat New Orleans, no matter what these positive clowns on here think.  Period.  

Yeah because our wideouts have been our difference makers in winning games the past few years right? Do you know what PANTHER football is? Smashmouth my guy. 

[Snake]

Losing two WRs after the hurn dog trade is going to really hurt us. 

[*FreeFua*]

1 hour ago, Troys99x3 said:

Yeah because our wideouts have been our difference makers in winning games the past few years right? Do you know what PANTHER football is? Smashmouth my guy. 

Smashmouth aka tell Cam to pull out the cape 

This formula has won us so many Super Bowls that I guess it isn’t worth changing 

[Bronn]

"We ain't got no wideouts!" - Ricky Proehl on Panthers first quarter blowout lead in the NFCCG in 2016 after scores from Ted Ginn and Phily Brown

People never gave us a chance at a passing game after KB went down that year. Yes, we rolled most of the season that year, but never say never.

[BIGH2001]

It was good enough to get us 11 wins.  I don't have us favored against the saints or Vikings in a road game but there are plenty of examples of defense winning super bowls.  If our front 7 plays elite level football and the run game gets going we can beat anyone.

[jayflip]

Catch rate % can be misleading. 

Without knowing the routes ran, Clay’s lower catch rate could be a result of low percentage deep balls vs CMC’s high percentage dump offs and check downs. 

But, the message is still the same: FunFun and the Scrubs are about to embark on a world tour and we’re gonna win the SB or bust with this crew, and I have some faith that we can pull it off.

If only someone on this board could educate me on the benefits of 2 TE sets...

[Troys99x3]

55 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

Smashmouth aka tell Cam to pull out the cape 

This formula has won us so many Super Bowls that I guess it isn’t worth changing 

Certainly should have won us our first. Cam ran all season up until the super bowl. Lack of offensive adjustments lost us that game. But the original comment I responded to claimed we won’t beat the Saints with the wideouts we have. I don’t think our wideouts will determine the difference between a win or a loss. Our ability to stop the run and run the ball ourselves will.

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

we all know Cam is at his best when he's forced to spread the ball around. When Smitty left, when KB went down in '15, when Olsen went down in week 2 and when KB was traded a few weeks later, Cam thrived in all those situations.

I think Funch, Olsen, and CmC is more than enough to get the job done. Add Clay who can at least keep defenses honest with the deep ball (whether he's targeted or not) and Bersin who's a reliable possession receiver, I'm not too worried. 

 

 

[Snake]

12 minutes ago, E CaT PanTHer 2 said:

we all know Cam is at his best when he's forced to spread the ball around. When Smitty left, when KB went down in '15, when Olsen went down in week 2 and when KB was traded a few weeks later, Cam thrived in all those situations.

I think Funch, Olsen, and CmC is more than enough to get the job done. Add Clay who can at least keep defenses honest with the deep ball (whether he's targeted or not) and Bersin who's a reliable possession receiver, I'm not too worried. 

 

 

Cam thrives running the read option and most years is forced to spread the ball around. Very much like Tom Brady does in NE. It's not like he is better without Gronk it's just Gronk is always hurt. 

[Fright]

We have enough talent on the roster to keep teams balanced against us. CMC and Greg will be used until their legs fall off this post season. We can beat anyone with our D and Cam being accurate. They both just have to show up.

 

[CPF4LIFE]

1 hour ago, *FreeFua* said:

Smashmouth aka tell Cam to pull out the cape 

This formula has won us so many Super Bowls that I guess it isn’t worth changing 

And NO injury riddle seasons to add. 

[Mikey815]

12 minutes ago, CPF4LIFE said:

And NO injury riddle seasons to add. 

An injury to cmc or fun? Then what