Travis Benjamin named AFC special teams player of the week

Chances are not good that the Browns will continue winning games because of the home run pass, and especially not to the same receiver (Benjamin) every time.

Pettine got a taste of Benjamin’s receiving talents previous year.

“Amari Cooper does not look like a rookie”, Pettine said.

Benjamin’s been an unexpected nightmare for opposing cornerbacks. Josh McCown threw a nice deep ball in training camp, but he needs to show he can hit Benjamin in stride during a regular season game. Will he have to play great for the rest of the season to keep his starting spot? He didn’t score again but had six catches for 115 yards.

Pettine and coordinator Kyle Shanahan began to unearth Benjamin’s talents as a wideout past year. They have had 3 already this year. “It was kind of a couple of things I didn’t get to practice well because being hurt, being out, missing those reps, missing those practices I was out, but this year, I’m ready to go”. “And that’s a great thing for me and the Browns“. I think he is still playing catch-up from that.

“This team hasn’t played on the road yet”, he said. The next possibility to use Benjamin would be in Week 10 against the Steelers. He started three of 14 games with 18 catches for 298 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2014, Benjamin was returning from a torn ACL suffered in 2013. He had three catches for 115 yards and two TDs. The coaching staffs valued him first as a returner – he has three career return touchdowns – didn’t think he was reliable as a receiver and were anxious about overusing the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder who sacrifices strength for speed. “It’s wonderful. It’s one of those feelings that when you’re on the top of your game and the offense is rolling, the special team unit’s rolling, Oakland is going to have a tough task to come in here and try to get a win“.

Barnidge probably won’t reach those levels, but he definitely is a guy that can be considered if your current tight end is someone like Austin Seferian-Jenkins or Jason Witten. He also worked hard to improve as a receiver.

Meanwhile, McCown told reporters that he is feeling better, adding that he did not doubt his preparedness to play. For that, he’s getting (drum roll, please) a sheet of paper.

“I did not know much about Travis at all”. A lot of teams, they have their system and they play it so we’re not going to purposefully go away from Travis thinking, ‘OK, teams know about him now. “When we got here in the spring, I just noticed this guy that had really good hands and could run fast”.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him in the offseason and so far this year. He has worked his butt off”.

While Benjamin’s claim to be the game’s speed king is debatable, there’s no denying he’s off to a quick start this season. He leads the league with 34.0 yards per catch. With his ability to run past corners, defensive coordinators must decide whether to play a safety deep.

As of Tuesday night, Benjamin is the 50th receiver on the FantasyPros consensus rankings.

Benjamin is proud of his speed.

And, yes, he believes he’s the fastest player in the league. “I would say it’s there, but the effect is minor”. “You would never see a player just put speed on tape each and every time”.

“It’s just wonderful”, he said.

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