Kelvin Benjamin shows up to Panthers workouts overweight
By John Buhler
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin has reportedly shown up to offseason workouts massively overweight. Can a wideout play at 280 pounds?
The Carolina Panthers are coming off a rough 2016 NFL season where they were nine wins worse than they were in 2015. Carolina finished last in the NFC South at 6-10 and had the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, using that selection on Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey.
The Panthers were feeling pretty good about their draft, but certainly weren’t expecting what they got during the first day of offseason workouts. Carolina No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin has reportedly come to offseason workouts massively overweight.
Benjamin is a tall guy at 6-foot-5, with his playing weight at roughly 250 pounds. He reportedly came to Sunday’s workouts weighing close to 280 pounds. Panthers head coach Ron Rivera tried to dispel that his No. 1 wideout wasn’t that heavy, but Benjamin looked like a defensive lineman when he first got the the weight room.
Keeping the pounds off has reportedly been an issue for Benjamin since his freshman year in Tallahassee at Florida State University. If his playing weight is in that 245 to 250-range, that’s fine. Benjamin is six-foot-five. However, he is entering his fourth NFL season. Wouldn’t now be the time he hired a dietician or a personal trainer to keep his body in check during the offseason?
Carolina needs Benjamin to be a 1,000-yard receiver to have any shot at making the NFC Playoffs. The Panthers may have Greg Olsen at tight end, but showing up to offseason workouts that out of shape is utterly embarrassing.
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Keep in mind that Carolina did exercise its fifth-year option on the former 2014 first-round pick. He didn’t play at all in 2015 when Carolina reached Super Bowl 50, due to an offseason injury. Could the Panthers have regret in extending Benjamin through the 2018 NFL season?