There are only 19 days until the Panthers kick off the season in Denver, and to celebrate that fact let’s take a look at #19, WR Ted Ginn, Jr.
Bio
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 180 lbs
Age: 31
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
College: Ohio State
Experience: 10 years
Career
Ted Ginn, Jr. was taken 9th overall in the 2007 NFL draft by Miami, and the pick was heavily criticized by everyone not involved in the decision because the expectation was the QB-starved Dolphins would select former Notre Dame signal caller Brady Quinn.
Although Ginn was considered the fastest, and one of the most athletic picks going into the draft, Miami's selection of Ginn was booed heavily by Dolphins fans at the draft and was criticized by football pundits and even teammates.
In retrospect, the Dolphins picking Ginn over Quinn (haha, that rhymes) wasn’t too egregious considering Quinn didn’t exactly become a franchise quarterback, but they never should have taken Ginn as high as they did. He simply didn’t work out for Miami, and even though they would have had the same end result if they would have taken the QB, there were plenty of other quality players they could have selected instead of “The Whole Ginn Family”.
After three years Miami cut their losses and traded him to the 49ers in for a 5th round pick. The 49ers had the same results as Miami, though, and after three underwhelming years in San Francisco Ginn signed a one-year contract with the Panthers in 2013. Ginn had a career resurgence in Carolina, racking up 556 yards receiving and five touchdowns (a career high).
Ginn decided to chase a free agent contract in 2014 and signed a three-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. We all know he did this so he could be a sleeper agent for Carolina, as his fumble in the 2015 NFC Wild Card Game was a key point in the Panthers’ 27-16 victory. Bruce Arians discovered his ploy shortly thereafter, and Ginn was released from his contract.
After being released by Arizona he decided to come back to the one place where he was considered a top-tier receiver and signed a two-year deal with the Panthers. In 2015, Ginn stepped up to the #1 receiver role after Kelvin Benjamin went down with a torn ACL and nearly broke his career high of 790 receiving yards with 739 (he would have if not for a few untimely drops), and caught 10 touchdown passes—just one shy of his career total. (Yes, you read that right. He had 11 career touchdowns before 2015.)
Ginn looks to be the veteran leader of a young WR corps in Carolina this year. While he probably won’t be the first option Cam Newton looks for, he should be able to help stretch the field and should collect a few touchdowns for his effort. He will also be used in punt returns to help the Panthers flip the field, and provided the guys in front of him do their jobs we may even see him take one to the house in 2016.
What do you expect from Ginn this season, Panthers fans? Do you think his 2016 will be as great as his 2015 was?