Kelvin Benjamin went down; Panthers' receiving corps of four rose to the occasion

Cristina Ledra

Kelvin Benjamin went down; Panthers' receiving corps of four rose to the occasion image

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Do you remember what you thought would become of the Panthers in 2015 when Kelvin Benjamin tore the ACL in his left knee in August?

Chances are, it wasn't a 15-1 record with a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs. Especially when the remaining receivers were a rookie, a second-year undrafted free agent and two veterans, including one whose career had been plagued by drops. The four combined for three touchdowns in 2014, while Benjamin had an outstanding rookie season with 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns.

CARDINALS 26, PACKERS 20 OT: Greatness of Larry Fitzgerald | Crazy finish | Carson Palmer catches a break | Packers' Hail Mary | Playoff images

But Devin Funchess, Corey "Philly" Brown, Jerricho Cotchery and Ted Ginn Jr. combined to make up for Benjamin's absence, in part because of the timing of the injury and also because of Cam Newton's development as a quarterback. And the Panthers offense didn't see a drop-off, even with one of Newton's biggest targets gone. Tight end Greg Olsen led the team in receiving in 2015, as he did in 2014, with 77 receptions for 1,104 yards and seven touchdowns.


From left: Corey "Philly" Brown, Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr., Jerricho Cotchery (Getty Images)

MORE: Best Carolina Panthers of all time | PHOTOS: Cam Newton's celebrations

"The offense hasn't changed," Brown said. "Obviously missing Kelvin is big. We definitely miss him being out there. At the same time, the offense hasn't changed. We're running the same plays, we just have to have people step it up; Teddy, Funchy. There's just more people stepping up to try to fill the role of what Kelvin would do."

The moment Benjamin went down, during a joint practice with the Dolphins in the preseason, was difficult for his teammates to witness because they knew his injury was serious. He was carted off the field days before the Panthers' second preseason game.

"I was right there and you never want to see a guy get hurt, and the way he got hurt, it was horrific," Funchess said. "I just kind of looked away and prayed for him."

PATRIOTS 27, CHIEFS 20: Edelman changes everything | Pats again a juggernaut | AFC playoff images | Steelers at Broncos

"We have a tight room and guys have very tight relationships, so seeing him go down, it was tough to watch," Cotchery said. "And specifically for me, I got here when he got here last year and I tried to teach him the ropes with everything and just to see how see how receptive he was to everything I had to say, he's like a little brother to me. So seeing him go down was really, really tough. I see how hard he worked and he was really coming along."

Though Benjamin's injury meant the same thing to all of them — that they'd have to contribute more — it also meant something different to each.

SN Awards: Ron Rivera runs away with Coach of the Year | Cam's OPOY-worthy season

Funchess, for whom the Panthers traded up 16 spots to draft in the second round in 2015, had to step into the offense quicker than expected. Funchess got his first start at wide receiver in Week 10 after Brown injured a shoulder. He had 31 receptions for 473 yards and five touchdowns. His best game was the regular season's last one — seven receptions for 150 yard and a touchdown against the Buccaneers.

"I didn't really watch the Panthers last year, so I didn't know who would be getting the targets (without Benjamin)," Funchess said. "I just knew I had to come in and grow up faster and do my job."

Brown grew into a team leader while he had 31 catches for 447 yards and four touchdowns. He had 21 catches for 296 yards and one touchdown in 2014.

"Obviously Cotch and Ted have the most experience, so I just tried to be one of the leaders to the young guys and make bigger plays and have a bigger role," he said.

Ginn saw his workload increase the most among the four receivers, with an increase of 51 targets from 2014 when he was with the Cardinals. He had a career-high 97 targets in 2015, a far cry from the 20s and 30s he had some seasons in stints with the 49ers and Cardinals. He had 78 in 2009 and 93 in 2008 with the Dolphins. He still had 10 drops in 2015, tied for second in the league, but had 44 receptions for 739 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Cotchery, a 12-year veteran, had to maintain his role in the offense. His production was slightly down from 2014 when he had 48 catches for 580 yards and a touchdown. In 2015, he had 39 catches for 485 yards and three touchdowns.

MORE: The culture Ron Rivera built in Carolina | How Greg Olsen can doom the Legion of Boom

Overall, the Panthers had fewer passing plays in 2015 than 2014. Pass attempts (501) were down by 44, while rushes (526) were up by 53. Forty-six percent of the Panthers' offense was from pass plays, down from 53 percent in 2014.

Not having Benjamin likely played a part in more run-heavy game plans, but going 15-1 and spending a lot of time leading the second halves of games did as well.

Another reason for the increased success was Newton's receivers saw an upgrade in the quality of his throws going into the 2015 season.

"He was dropping some passes there in OTAs and we were like 'wow,' " Cotchery said. "You could see that he had been spending a lot of time perfecting his craft. A lot of people don't see the work that he does away from the facility. It's kind of scary with all the talent that he has, he's steadily climbing and I'm excited for him and I know when I'm done I'll be in front of the television watching every moment of it."

And if there is a such a thing as a good time to have a catastrophic injury occur, the Panthers got it with Benjamin. They were able to regroup with three games left in the preseason as opposed to being left scrambling in the middle of the regular season.

"To lose him, but then have two or three weeks of camp to get with his guys and compete and get on the same page," Ginn said. "I believe that was the adjustment right then and there, and once we got that, we took off and we've been good ever since."

Cristina Ledra