What can we expect from Devin Funchess following Kelvin Benjamin’s injury?
Cam Newton says he can trust Devin Funchess with the game on the line, but is this anything more than a team captain throwing his support behind a key newbie? More importantly, can you trust the second-round rookie in your fantasy lineup?
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Kelvin Benjamin, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL, stands at 6-foot-5, while Funchess is pretty big himself at 6-foot-4, albeit 20 pounds lighter at 225. Funchess did have a 38.5-inch vertical leap and was timed at a 4.47 40 at his pro day after being clocked at 4.7 at the combine. Benjamin infamously claimed he intentionally tanked his combine (32.5-inch vertical and a 4.61 40) so he could fall to the Panthers. For comparison’s sake, both players also entered the draft with a penchant for letting too many balls hit the ground (Funchess had 20 drops over his last three collegiate seasons).
Head coach Ron Rivera recently compared Funchess to Benjamin in terms of size and the types of routes they run, although he also said the biggest thing for Funchess right now is to get healthy and play with confidence as he develops. Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Mike Shula said the team will replace Benjamin’s production at wide receiver “by committee” with the hope that someone eventually emerges as a clear-cut No. 1 option.
Despite his solid vertical, Funchess simply does not possess the same caliber of jump ball skills as Benjamin, who caught as many touchdowns as a sophomore at Florida State (15) as Funchess totaled in three years at Michigan. Of course, Funchess was also a tight end until moving out wide prior to the 2014 season.
Having just returned to the field this week from a nagging hamstring injury, he’ll need all of the practice reps he can get. You may recall Newton and Benjamin were virtually inseparable last summer, so it is at least a positive sign that Newton already has trust in Funchess. Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl, known as the “wideout whisperer,” likewise has had good things to say about the rookie.
But whereas Benjamin’s 145 targets in his rookie season accounted for 27 percent of the team’s offensive share, Funchess is behind where Benjamin was at this time last year. He sat out Carolina’s second preseason game and his status for tonight’s tilt with New England is still a bit iffy. It’s also important to note this is a Panthers offense that finished 19th and 29th in pass attempts over the last two seasons.
All things considered, expect the Panthers to spread the ball around this season as opposed to peppering their second-rounder with No. 1 WR-type volume. That being said, he is sure to be moved around the formation to leverage mismatches in opportune down and distances; namely, the red zone. Funchess’s wingspan should also help with Newton’s occasional accuracy woes. But without much proven talent out wide, the Panthers are also not a particularly tough offense to gameplan against, especially if Rivera holds true to his claim that the Panthers won’t be dialing up more read-option plays.
At the end of the day, if there is one Panthers receiver to own, it’s Funchess, but don’t expect a repeat of Benjamin’s rookie season. Problem is, with an ADP now in the 10th round and still rising, his price tag has crept up almost to where Benjamin was being drafted last year.
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Mike Castiglione is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, you can view his archive or follow him @RickDancin.
