Ted Ginn and the Carolina Panthers have parted ways for the second time.

The fleet-footed wide receiver has signed a three-year, $11 million contract with the New Orleans Saints, leaving Carolina in need of a “speed” receiver who can fly past secondaries and stretch the field.

In response, the Panthers signed fourth-year receiver Charles Johnson who ran a 4.35 40-yard dash in 2013 NFL Combine. Yet despite his track speed, Johnson has registered only 60 receptions for 834 yards and two touchowns in his NFL career.

There can be a difference between controlled 40-yard dash times and actual, in-game football speed as players run in pads and try to avoid getting hospitalized by Kam Chancellor.

Charles Johnson is going to have some big – and fast – shoes to fill as Ginn’s replacement.

Because Ted Ginn was one of the fastest players in the NFL, and the league has some pretty cool stats that prove it.

NextGen Stats – Top Speed

The NFL leverages NextGen technology to capture player-related data like speed and acceleration by using sensors throughout the stadium to track tags placed on players’ shoulder pads.

One of the cool stats available to the public is fastest top speed in miles per hour that ball carriers reached in 2016. In Week 2 Ted Ginn topped out at 22.11 MPH on a 52-yard gain against the San Francisco 49ers. Only 10 ball carriers recorded a faster top speed than Ginn’s 22.11 MPH:

NFL’s Fastest Ball Carriers Player Team POS Top Speed (MPH) Player Team POS Top Speed (MPH) Tyreek Hill KC WR 23.24 DeSean Jackson WAS WR 22.60 Stefon Diggs MIN WR 22.50 Xavier Rhodes MIN CB 22.40 Brandin Cooks NO WR 22.40 Mike Wallace BAL WR 22.34 Marquise Goodwin BUF WR 22.25 Tevin Coleman ATL RB 22.25 Johnny Holton OAK WR 22.23 Travis Benjamin SD WR 22.17 Ted Ginn CAR WR 22.11

And Ginn wasn’t a one-hit speed wonder. NextGen stats show the Top 20 fastest individual top speeds recorded in 2016, and only three players appeared more than once on the Top 20 list:

Tyreke Hill (Three Times) – 23.24 MPH (1st overall), 22.77 MPH (2nd), 21.91 MPH (20th)

Brandin Cooks (Twice) – 22.40 MPH (6th), 22.13 MPH (12th)

Ted Ginn (Twice) – 22.11 MPH (13th), 21.91 MPH (17th)

Ginn can flat out fly with a football in his hands.

NextGen Stats – Separation

Another Next Gen stat showing the value of Ginn’s speed is the separation, or the distance between himself and the defenders covering him, he was able to create.

NextGen classified Ginn as a No. 3 wide receiver. When comparing No. 3 receivers, Ginn finished ninth in the NFL in creating an average separation of 3.02 yards at target.

By comparison, teammates Kelvin Benjamin (1.8 yards) and Devin Funchess (2.05 yards) generated some of the worst separation in the NFL, each finishing in the bottom four in the league among receivers with 40 or more targets.

But a speedy receiver like Ginn who can get separation still requires a QB with a big arm who can hit him deep on a “Go” route, which is exactly what Ted Ginn had in Cam Newton.

NextGen Stats – Cam’s Cannon

NextGen measures a stat called “Air Distance” which is the amount of yards the ball traveled on a pass, from the point of release to the point of reception (i.e. as the crow flies).

In 2016, Cam Newton led the NFL in average Air Distance per pass at 22.44 yards.

When it came to individual passes thrown, Newton had the second longest “Air Distance” throw in the NFL in 2016 at 64.01 yards, trailing only a 64.96 yard bomb by Jay Cutler.

Conversely, Ginn’s new QB in New Orleans, Drew Brees, finished just 27th of 35 QBs in average Air Distance at 19.40 yards. Brees’ longest throw of 52.24 yards was 25th of 35 QBs.

So, Cam Newton is losing a superfast weapon who can get open deep with the departure of Ted Ginn.

And Ted Ginn is losing a big-armed QB who can get him the ball deep when he gets open.

We’ll see how it works out for the both of them next year.

Farewell Ted Ginn

It’s been two good runs in Carolina for Ted Ginn.

In three seasons with the Panthers (2013, and 2015-2016) he averaged 45 receptions, 682 yards, and 6.3 TDs.

In seven seasons between the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, and Arizona Cardinals he averaged just 25 receptions, 320 yards, and one TD.

No doubt the combination of Ted Ginn’s blazing speed and Cam Newton’s rocket arm produced something special in Carolina.

And thanks, Ted, for all of the big plays over the years, especially during the magical 15-1 Super Bowl season in 2015.

Best wishes from CSR, Ted Ginn. (Meaning, of course, we hope you are happy and healthy, but that the Saints are horrible.)

And Godspeed.