Carolina Panthers: 5 players who must improve

1. Devin Funchess

The Panthers made a clear choice last season when they dealt Kelvin Benjamin and kept Funchess in the fold. The Carolina front office expected Funchess to step up and become a number one receiver.

That didn’t happen. Instead, Funchess looked like an inconsistent target for most of the season. He was targeted 113 times but only came down with 63 catches. Funchess made some big plays for the offense, he just didn’t make enough good ones.

This year, the front office changed a lot of the receiving talent around him. Torrey Smith was brought in to play on the other side and first round pick D.J. Moore is expected to contribute sooner rather than later. Funchess may have to fight for his targets this season.

The good news is his physical frame gives him something different than his teammates. He’s the only true jump ball threat that Newton has to work with. More precisely, Funchess has the largest catch radius of any of the Panthers wide receivers. That is really helpful when you consider the fact that Newton isn’t the most accurate passer in the NFL.

Next: 5 bold predictions for the Carolina Panthers in 2018

This will serve as a put-up or shutup year for Devin Funchess. He has a chance to emerge as a true number one receiver if he can elevate his game. The Panthers may need that to achieve Super Bowl glory in 2018.