A Feel-Good Fit for the Panthers Wide Receiver Coaching Vacancy

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A Feel-Good Fit for the Panthers Wide Receiver Coaching Vacancy

Ricky Proehl’s surprising resignation as the Panthers wide receiver coach has opened another void to fill on the Panthers coaching staff. After a disappointing season by the Panthers wideouts, it seems a particularly important vacancy for a staff searching for ways to recreate the success of 2015. 

 

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A Look at How David Gettleman Assembles the Roster

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A Look at How David Gettleman Assembles the Roster

Ever since becoming the General Manager of the Panthers, David Gettleman has assembled competitive rosters each year. His work reached the NFL’s pinnacle with a Super Bowl berth, and ultimate loss. This year he will try to get his team back to the promised land, and come out with a victory. The table below shows how Gettleman has assembled his roster in each of his three seasons as GM. You can see the patterns of how many players he usually keeps per position, and my input on who may fill these spots come final roster cuts.

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Quarter Report: How the Wide Receivers are Faring

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Quarter Report: How the Wide Receivers are Faring

It seems it takes forever for the NFL season to arrive, and no time at all before it ends. We are already through 25% of the regular season, and just five teams remain undefeated. Luckily we are one of the five, and are possibly poised for a deep playoff run. The Panthers’ wide receiver corp has been in the spot light seemingly forever, and the the beam got more intense when Kelvin Benjamin went down with injury. Here are some stats showing how they've done thus far, and projections on how they will do down the stretch.

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Which Wide Receivers will Make the Final Roster

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Which Wide Receivers will Make the Final Roster

The punchline for the Panthers over the last few years has been their lack of receiving talent, with possibly the biggest joke being last years group. This year should dispel all critics; it seems the Panthers will trot out a formidable group of receiving talent. However, behind the twin towers in Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess, the remaining wideouts form a muddled yet talented group. The Panthers kept 5 receivers on their 53 man roster last year, this year I can see them keeping 5-7. Here is my prediction on who will make up this group.

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Randall Cobb in Carolina

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Randall Cobb in Carolina

One of the best offensive weapons that the Panthers could get in the offseason is Randall Cobb. Cobb is the 2nd string wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, and is heading for unrestricted free agency. Randall Cobb had a great 2014 season with 91 receptions for 1,287 yards, and 12 touchdowns.

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Facing Criticism, Do the Panthers Receivers Even Believe in Themselves?

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The national media scoffs, the local media vexes, and the fan base is nervously hopeful.  Faith in the unknown, it’s arduous enough for the most pious of fans, let alone the inherently cynical media It’s not easy. It’s not logical—but it can be powerful!

What the Panthers have offensively is unknown at this point.  Even the coaching staff doesn’t know what Carolina has to offer yet.  The entire receiving core has been replaced and an already questionable line has suffered from retirement and injury.  The unknown has bred uncertainty and disbelief.

Maybe the cynicism and worry is for the best, however. Carolina’s offense can go into the 2014 season under the radar and underestimated by opponents.  The criticism and ridicule experienced by this young group of receivers has ignited a fire in this group of receivers.  It’s also put a chip on their shoulders.  Cam Newton recently addressed this criticism,  defending "those guys already have that fire in their eyes. I would rather those guys be like that and for them to go out there and bust their tails like they've been doing. It's kind of like a slap in -- not only their face -- but my face as well.”

Continued criticism by the media in the midst of training camp could add enough psychological stress to strengthen this bunch mentally.  By the end of training camp, they would have scratched and fought for their roster spot in the face of relentless criticism. They could just walk into the season mentally resilient and accustomed to fighting, led by a star quarterback equally determined to prove the critics wrong.

This will be a dangerous and important opportunity for this unknown group. Few will believe. Few will have faith.

St. Augustine once remarked: "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."  

If this unknown group of receivers finds faith in themselves, success will be their reward. 

From the likes of this image, they may just already believe.