FanPost

Two Local Panther Draft Prospects: East Carolina WRs Justin Hardy And Cam Worthy

This season that ECU is putting together is a lot of fun. It would be great were they to manage to win the AAC. Even better: ECU has a pair of senior WRs that the Panthers should consider as draft picks. The Panthers should abandon their recent and fruitless trend of using their last picks on Pac-12 tailbacks (Kenjon Barner and Tyler Gaffney) in favor of local WR prospects instead maybe. After all, it is basically how the Seattle Seahawks built the bulk of their WR for their Super Bowl run: with under-the-radar guys from west coast colleges like Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse.

Justin Hardy, however, is not exactly under the radar. The 6'1" 190 lb. senior is on the Biletnikoff Award watchlist. So are a lot of guys, right? But what sets Hardy apart is that he is chasing the NCAA career receptions mark set by Ryan Broyles of Oklahoma. The record is 349 catches and Hardy has 327 with at least - barring injury or other circumstances - 5 games left to play. A caveat however: though Hardy packs on the receptions, he doesn't get very many yards per catch. He is now averaging 12.8 ypc, the highest of his career. When you consider the mid-major level of competition and their air raid offense, that is a bit concerning. Still, he is projected as a 2nd to 3rd round prospect at this stage, though my prediction is that he will likely run on the low end of his projected 40 time at the combine and drop.

East Carolina's other WR prospect is a bit more intriguing: Cam Worthy. On one hand, he is the opposite of Justin Hardy's reliability and consistency. He failed to academically qualify out of high school, so he spent his early college career at a junior college, where he did not make a very large impression. ECU invited him as a walk-on and after a redshirt year in his first season he did not stand out, catching only 19 passes. In his senior year, his last shot, he had a massive game with 224 receiving yards against Virginia Tech, which could have been a breakout performance. Unfortunately he had a "relapse" of his prior issues, violated the conduct code of no-nonsense head coach Ruffin McNeill (who despite his air raid offense is "old school") and was suspended the next two games. So with 7 games to go in his college career, Worthy has 791 career receiving yards to Justin Hardy's 3826.

So why am I even mentioning him? Because Cam Worthy's 791 career receiving yards come at an incredible 18.8 yards per catch. That is right: 18.8 yards per catch. Oh yes, did I mention that Worthy is 6'3" 225 lbs with 4.6 speed, a 43 inch vertical leap and bodybuilder type weightlifting marks? Yes, Worthy has his "issues" but sometimes you have to take chances with guys like that in the NFL. His issues do not rise to the level of Josh Gordon (who in my previous handle I advocated the Panthers' take in the supplemental draft with the pick that ultimately was used on Kawann Short ) who was kicked out of two schools in a calendar year. Right now Worthy is considered a 7th round pick/UDFA, but scouts are just starting to look at him.

Their fits in Carolina? Hardy, the former high school QB, can play the X, Z and slot positions and can also play kick returner. (For the record, Benjamin currently plays Z, on the strong side, of the formation, which is where a 6'5" 245 lb. WR should line up.) Because of his lack of size and elite speed/explosiveness - similar in some ways to Jerricho Cotchery, except that he has better and more consistent hands than Cotchery - he would probably be better in the slot. As for Worthy, the scouts have him listed as a Z-receiver/H-back. However, a similar player, Vincent Jackson, plays the Y spot for Tampa Bay.

Another way of looking at it: Cam Worthy would appear to better fit Cam Newton's game. Justin Hardy is someone who would be more effective with a quick release, rhythm/accuracy passer who throws into seams, such as Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and late-career Peyton Manning. That isn't Cam Newton's strength. Newton is better at pitch and catch, throwing it up and letting his WRs make plays downfield more akin to Eli Manning and Joe Flacco. So, Worthy and Benjamin on the outside with Olsen at TE eating up huge chunks of yardage (even if they will drop a few balls, but hey no risk no reward) ... that would be compelling.

Or they could just get both and use Hardy as a faster, younger guy in the slot than Avant and a bigger, taller guy in that role than Philly Brown. What do you guys think?

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