Who will step up for the Carolina Panthers at wide receiver now that Kelvin Benjamin is gone? Although Benjamin wasn’t the most efficient receiver during his time in Carolina, he was still productive, as he led the team with 475 receiving yards through eight games.

The most obvious answer might be Devin Funchess (who will take Benjamin’s old “X” WR spot), but I think the Panthers will utilize more of a committee approach to further spread the ball around to their receivers. One receiver who I think could benefit from this approach is Russell Shepard. Shepard is a fast receiver who runs solid routes, but he only has 11 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown so far this year. He’s seen the field 52.4% of the total offensive snaps, but has only been targeted 19 times.

Shepard’s biggest catch came against the San Francisco 49ers in the first game of the season.

The Panthers are in a 3x1 set with Shepard as the far inside receiver to the trips side. The 49ers are in a single high safety look, but it’s unclear if it’s man to man or Cover 3. Shepard runs a deep crossing route and the 49ers forget to cover him.

Cam Newton sees the coverage bust and throws it to a wide-open Shepard, who then uses an impressive spin move after the catch to juke the final defender and score the touchdown.

The Panthers definitely need to utilize Shepard on more crossing routes on offense.

On this third and nine play against the Bucs, the Panthers have Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess run clear-out routes. The cornerbacks are in zone, but are forced to carry Benjamin and Funchess on their routes.

This results in a vacated zone, and Shepard is once again wide open.

It’s an easy read and throw for Cam Newton, and the Panthers gain 14 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.

On this play against the Bears, Shepard displays his ability to run concise routes. The Panthers are in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR’s) with Shepard lined up in the slot. Mike Shula calls for a smash concept, which features Kelvin Benjamin on a quick curl route and Samuel on a corner route.

This concept is generally more effective against zone coverage, but the Bears play man coverage on the play. Against man, the quarterback will generally throw the corner route if the wide receiver can get adequate separation.

Shepard does a good job stemming his route (leaning inside before cutting his route outside), which forces the slot receiver to open his hips towards the middle of the field. With the corner’s hips flipped, Shepard cuts back inside and is able to gain several yards of separation. It’s an easy throw and catch for a gain of 18 yards.

Russell Shepard is a talented receiver who could definitely thrive with a bigger role on offense over the final eight games of the year. I’m not saying he’ll suddenly become a 1000 yard receiver, but a higher snap count will likely lead to more targets, which could lead to more plays like the ones I highlighted above.

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