Between the sweeping changes on the offensive coaching staff and the additions at his own position, Carolina Panthers wideout Jonathan Mingo may have gotten lost in the fold a bit this offseason. But he believes, even after a quiet rookie campaign, there’s plenty of noise left to be made.
Mingo recently chatted with Joe Person of The Athletic—who touched on numerous topics such as quarterback Bryce Young, the remade receiver room and that nightmarish 2023. That season, which resulted in just 418 receiving yards and no touchdowns for Mingo, saw the second-round pick take some knocks for his perceived lack of route-running ability.
Person asked Mingo if he thinks the criticism of his craft was overblown. He replied:
“I think overblown. At the end of the day, I know I can run routes. I feel when it comes down to it, I’m a good route runner. I know what I can do when it comes to route running. People might try to say stuff. But when teams come to play us, they watch film, too. So they can see what routes are coming off (receivers’) splits. People don’t know game. They’re on the outside looking in. Just like we can see a defense and know what coverage they’re in. I know I can run routes. You’re not going to win all of ’em, but I’m damn sure gonna win the majority of ’em.”
According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Mingo averaged 2.8 yards of separation on his routes—tied for 67th in the category amongst all wide receivers and tight ends charted. He was, however, tied with the likes of Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs and Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith, and even higher than Chicago’s DJ Moore, Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson—all of whom averaged 2.7 yards.
(We’re pretty sure those guys aren’t bad route runners, right?)
As Mingo states—maybe some folks don’t know game, and stats like this don’t tell the entire story. Plus, we may have to give Mingo (and a bunch of other Panthers) a pass for the mess their organization made on the sideline last year.
So perhaps Year No. 2 will yield more results, more numbers and more positive noise for a confident Mingo.
