There wasn’t much consensus when the Panthers took Kelvin Benjamin in the first round of May’s draft. Some believed the 6-5 receiver was a perfect weapon for quarterback Cam Newton. Others felt Benjamin was too raw with bust potential.Drops, inconsistencies and technique deficiencies were littered throughout Benjamin’s two years at Florida State. At the very least, it appeared it would take him a while to get going as a pro.It’s still very early, but from the moment Benjamin arrived in Charlotte, he’s given his doubters very little to pick on. Through a dominant training camp and preseason, we’ve seen him develop into a far superior player than the one he was less than a year ago.While taking a closer look at the Panthers preseason games, you can see a number of traits Benjamin failed to show as a draft prospect. Here are some examples:

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 Gaining Separation From Tight Coverage

Benjamin was billed as a phenom, who some compared to Lions receiver Calvin Johnson. But his numbers at February’s Combine were less than impressive, running a 4.61 40-yard dash and posting a 7.33 three-cone drill.There were also times in college where Benjamin appeared stiff, and unable to sink his hips or separate cleanly from corners.NFL.com’s Nolan Nawrocki wrote,

“[Benjamin] lacks elite, top-end speed and many catches are contested. Hand use could improve releasing vs. tight, press coverage. Overly grabby. Is not yet a nuanced route runner and does not sink his hips and pop in and out of his breaks.”

None of that showed up in the preseason. Benjamin appeared lighter, faster and used technique that put plenty of space between himself and defenders in his routes:

On this play, Benjamin lines up across from the Chiefs 6-3, 218-pound top cornerback, Sean Smith. Benjamin immediately gets Smith off-balance by making a subtle fake as if he will run outside. When the rookie cuts back inside, he already has the upper hand.You’ll notice Benjamin engages in a hands battle with Smith as the route develops. The defender is attempting to press the receiver, but is unsuccessful. Benjamin bats the cornerback’s arms away, and stays balanced as he prepares to break on the route:

In frame No. 1, we see an out-of-position Smith make a last-ditch effort to grab onto Benjamin. You’ll also notice that Benjamin begins to sink his hips in the first frame. By the second frame, he’s dipped his inside hip low to the ground like a pro. Since Benjamin executes this with such quickness, and because of his early advantage gained at the line, Smith slips in his attempt to keep up. This is a series of NFL veteran moves from a guy who was playing in college just a few months ago.The results become clear in the third frame. Benjamin has achieved plenty of separation to make a clean catch over the middle.This play was no anomaly. The rookie put these techniques — hand use, sinking hips, quick breaks — together on numerous occasions in the preseason.Benjamin struggled at Florida State with creating optimal separation in tight coverage, and being flexible in his lower body. Since his time in Carolina, he has developed these traits in practice and transferred them to the field.

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Route Running and Boxing Out Defenders

Most draft prospects come out of school as raw route runners. Collegiate receivers are rarely asked to, or need to, run the full route tree against opposing corners. Their jump to the NFL is often steep, as they don’t have the necessary skills to beat pro defenses.Benjamin was an inconsistent with his routes at Florida State. He often appeared sluggish, and his patterns were not always crisp. But he was much-improved this preseason:

On this play, Benjamin runs a deep comeback route down the left sideline. He streaks down the field, only to break off and face his quarterback at the stem of the pattern.During the straight-ahead, vertical portion of the route, Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler has good position. However, Benjamin quickly halts and prepares to alter his route. This leaves the defender in a poor spot to defend the now out-breaking receiver:

By the time Butler attempts to recover, Benjamin is ready to counter. The rookie takes his right arm and goes over Butler to achieve more separation on the out route. The Panthers’ top receiver presents a great open target for his quarterback to hit.Benjamin was criticized for not utilizing his 6-4, 240 frame enough in college. But here we see Benjamin box out the small cornerback as he waits for the pass to arrive on the sideline. He shields the defender from the ball and hauls in a difficult catch in tight coverage.While watching Benjamin as a draft prospect, you saw an unrefined route runner and a player not using his size. The current iteration of Benjamin shows a route technician, who knows how to deploy his 6-5 body.

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 Maintaining Concentration

According to Rotoworld’s Greg Peshek, Benjamin dropped 9.68% of the passes thrown his way last season at FSU. It was a flaw far too easy to spot. While Benjamin didn’t display poor technique — trapping the ball, alligator arms, etc. — he continued to have a problem with drops. When the issue isn’t one surrounding technique, that usually indicates a concentration problem.It did appear Benjamin would lose focus when trying to reel in some passes. But those issues have disappeared since he started working with Newton and Panthers receivers coach Ricky Proehl:

This was the touchdown that forced everyone to take notice of the improving Benjamin. During the preseason opener against the Bills, he made a spectacular catch over well-regarded corner Stephon Gilmore.As the ball is in the air, Benjamin again uses his arm to extend the space between him and the defender. Unfortunately, the move causes the receiver to stumble. At the five-yard line, Benjamin actually has both hands on the ground. If he were the same player from FSU, this would have been an incompletion. But Benjamin’s improved focus and concentration allow him to alter the play’s course:

Benjamin essentially crawls the rest of the route. Notice in the frame on the left how Benjamin keeps his eyes toward the sky. He isn’t focused on what his body is doing or where he is, but rather the location of the incoming ball. Benjamin lays out in the end zone, tracks the ball to his hands and grabs the pass for a touchdown.Being able to put the blinders on, and only focus on making the reception was an area he struggled at in college. But despite the mitigating factors in the play above, Benjamin used extreme concentration to turn an incompletion into a score.

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Going Forward

After revamping their receiving corps, the Panthers knew they needed a game-changing force in the passing game. The issue many had was that they needed one right away, and Benjamin wasn’t supposed to be “pro ready.” But general manager Dave Gettleman and company took a leap of faith.The Panthers have pumped confidence into their first-round pick. He’s rewarded them by developing into a massively improved, and well-rounded player in a matter of months. The rookie has already developed in key areas such as route running, gaining separation in coverage and concentration.Instead of being stuck on a learning curve, Benjamin is unquestionably the Panthers’ number one receiver. That’s well beyond even the most optimistic projections any draft analyst could have had.And for the first time in too many years, the Panthers finally have a young, dynamic threat in their aerial arsenal.