We can agree to disagree. I think the presence of a true outside threat like Benjamin makes this team almost impossible to scheme against. Between the running game, Olsen, and Newton's ability to scramble, that was really one of the only holes in this offense last year, and he fills it. I think we're already seeing it pay dividends for them in the 1st half tonight.I don't really see how Allen Robinson is a fair comp. They had completely different roles during their rookie seasons. Same thing with Funchess.
Benjamin put up those numbers because only five players had the ball thrown their way more than he did that season. You throw someone the ball 145 times and they had better put up some numbers. When you look at the stats of the other players who had a similar number of targets, you realize Benjamin's stats really weren't very impressive. And I don't buy the argument that other teams were scheming against him. If anything, he probably got so many targets because teams were scheming against Olsen and would have rather had Cam target Benjamin instead.
I think it's likely Benjamin plays better this season than his rookie year, even though he's likely to put up a less impressive statline. I just don't see him being a game changer. He's a big guy and he uses his body well. He's a solid redzone threat and he'll be tough to defend against smaller secondaries. But he's got some pretty significant holes in his game. He's still pretty raw as a route runner and he's got hands of stone.
I'm not trying to shit on the guy, I just think any talk of him taking this offense to another level is mostly wishful thinking.
Amazing play by Shane Ray there on the Newton roll out. Very curious to see if he takes it to the next level this year.