Carolina Panthers Have High Expectations for WR Philly Brown

An NFL team's wide receiver corps should be built like a basketball team. 

The unit needs a tall target like a center, a point guard with better overall movement skills and that wing player who proves to be the glue of the team by doing the dirty work. Heights and skill sets should vary to give teams multiple options within the passing game. 

The Carolina Panthers lacked that variety through the first 11 games of the season. As a result, the organization decided changes were needed among their group of wide receivers. 

It starts with an expanded role for rookie wide receiver Corey "Philly" Brown. 

To make room for Brown's expected increase in repetitions, the team announced that it waived veteran Jason Avant Tuesday. 

Avant signed a one-year deal during free agency after spending the previous eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 31-year-old wide receiver couldn't provide the spark the team needed, though, as head coach Ron Rivera discussed Tuesday, via Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer: 

"

In all fairness to him, it has nothing to do with what he didn’t do or did or anything like that. This had everything to do with what we see in Philly and the potential in him. When you have veteran guys who play a lot in front of younger guys that have potential, sometimes you stunt their growth. This is something we felt we needed to do to give Philly an opportunity to be on the field more.

"

Avant finished his time in Carolina with 21 catches for 201 yards. A meager 9.6 yards per catch wasn't good enough. Among wide receivers with over 20 catches, Avant ranked 109th in yards per catch.

The staff now expects Brown to assume the role of third receiver, according to Jones:

It's an unexpected promotion for a wide receiver who was a long shot to make the Panthers roster. 

During Brown's four seasons as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes, the receiver was used in a variety of ways. Brown led the program in receiving each of his last two seasons on campus. He either led or tied for the team lead in receptions for three straight campaigns. The receiver served as the Buckeyes' punt returner. And head coach Urban Meyer found creative ways to get the ball in Brown's hands as part of the offense. 

Brown still went undrafted in May after posting poor workout numbers at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

The rookie wide receiver isn't a traditional speedster like former Panther Ted Ginn Jr. Brown only ran a 4.51 40-yard dash at the combine and didn't finish among the top receivers in any of the drills in Indianapolis. 

The Panthers coaching staff seems to like Brown's explosiveness and short-area quickness, though. Those areas of his game add a different dynamic to the offense for Rivera, via the team's official site: 

"

If you look at our receiving corps, there is nobody like Kelvin. Cotch (Jerricho Cotchery), Avant and (Brenton) Bersin are very similar in style of play, so when you put those guys out there, there's nothing different. But now you have Cotch and Benjamin and then you add Brown out there, now there are three different guys with three different styles.

We have lacked that vertical challenge and that quickness underneath. We looked at what Philly has done when he's had extended playing time and the explosive nature of the plays that he has made.

"

With one catch, Brown seemed to be the answer to the Panthers' questions at wide receiver. 

As the Panthers trailed the Atlanta Falcons 16-10 in the fourth quarter Sunday, quarterback Cam Newton found a streaking Brown down the right sideline for a 47-yard touchdown connection. While the lead was short-lived, Brown displayed three qualities to get the Panthers staff excited about his potential. 

First, Brown was able to beat one-one-one coverage to his side. 

As the screen capture below shows, the Falcons were in a Cover 3 shell with the safety cheating toward Kelvin Benjamin's side.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Brown was left all alone with Falcons cornerback Robert McClain. 

If the Ohio State product can continue to win these battles it will take some pressure off Benjamin, who is clearly the Panthers' top target even as a fellow rookie. 

Finding a running mate for Benjamin is absolutely vital for the Panthers' passing attack to finally display some consistency. Brown has shown that type of potential in a very limited sample size. 

Second, a wide receiver doesn't need to possess tremendous straight-line speed to beat a defense deep. Brown's ability to get behind McClain is a perfect example of this. 

Brown created separation by faking a jab step toward an inside route, which spun McClain around. As the screenshot below clearly shows, Brown had plenty of room to operate down the field and became a wide-open target for Newton. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

It's these little nuances of route-running that help even speed-deficient receivers get open consistently. The separation Brown was able to gain against McClain is far more important than being able to run a fast 40-yard dash. 

Finally, Newton didn't make the catch easy for Brown. Despite having a yard or two for a cushion behind McClain, the pass was underthrown. 

Brown was able to adjust on the football by slowing down mid-stride and still making the catch with a defender bearing down on him (see below). 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The wide receiver's momentum carried him into the end zone for the touchdown, but it was an impressive display of tracking the trajectory of the football and making the catch despite previously running full-speed downfield. 

While Carolina's excitement over Brown is obvious, expectations should be tempered. In 11 games, the rookie caught only 12 passes. Even the exciting catch against the Falcons was Brown's only reception of the afternoon. 

But changes needed to made for Carolina's offense to become more explosive. The Panthers' decision to move on from Avant and give Brown more playing time was a simple layup. 


All statistics courtesy of NFL.com. Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.