NFL Week 6 Top Storylines: Will somebody get Cordarrelle Patterson the ball?
By Andrew Garda
How good is Kelvin Benjamin?
“The ACC doesn’t have the defensive talent to have really challenged him.”
“He’s got a lot of talent, but he’s really raw.”
“He’s not as good as Marqise Lee/Jordan Matthews, and shouldn’t have gone in the first round.”
“This is who they dumped Steve Smith for?”
All of that and more was said when the Carolina Panthers drafted Kelvin Benjamin with the No. 28 pick in the NFL draft. After an offseason where the Panthers seemingly tore apart all the available weapons Cam Newton had at his disposal, no pick was going to solve their problems, right?
He is far and away the most targeted receiver on the team with 47 targets, and only tight end Greg Olson is close with 40. While he’s only caught three touchdowns, Newton has only thrown five so he’s not being ignored.
The downside is that while he has played better than expected, he is very raw. Last week against the Chicago Bears, he had several drops and couldn’t come down with a ball in the end zone that he should have been able to grab.
Still, we’ve seen the talent he possesses, and this is only the beginning. He faces a tough challenge in the Cincinnati Bengals this week, and we’re looking for less drops and more consistency from him.
Right now though, it looks like he has a chance to be very, very good.