The Panthers lost wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a torn ACL, which leaves them with a receiving corps that’s short on players they know they can count on beyond tight end Greg Olsen.
One way to combat that shortage would be to put the ball in quarterback Cam Newton’s hands more often. Newton’s 103 rushing attempts in 2014 were the lowest of his four-year career and using more read-option would give the team’s most talented offensive player more opportunities, but it’s not something that coach Ron Rivera wants to do.
“I don’t think we’re going to do any more than we’ve done in the past,” Rivera said, via the Charlotte Observer. “The thing we’re waiting for is for Devin [Funchess] to be healthy and get him out on the football field. He runs a lot of the same type of routes [as Benjamin]. He’s almost as imposing a target as Kelvin and the biggest thing with him is the confidence that he plays with as he develops.”
Running Newton more this year would reverse the attempts made over the last few years to improve his skills as a pocket passer while also upping the risk of injury to a player that Carolina really can’t afford to lose if they want to run their string of playoff appearances to three straight. That said, they may need to revisit things if Funchess, who returned to practice this week after his hamstring injury kept him out, doesn’t develop as hoped in his rookie season.