Devin Funchess has really started to come into his own as the Carolina Panthers' No. 1 receiver following the trade of Kelvin Benjamin in late October.
Before the trade, Funchess averaged 44.62 yards per game and 10.84 yards per catch. But in the four games since, he has averaged 86.5 yards per game and 16.5 yards per catch as a reliable option for quarterback Cam Newton.
But on Sunday against Minnesota, Funchess will face perhaps his biggest challenge of the season: Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
Rhodes, a 6-foot-1 and 218-pound Florida State product, is a talented corner known for his physicality at the line of scrimmage and his speed.
"He's a terrific, physical cover guy," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "I think that the thing you have to do is you have to win at the line of scrimmage against him. He's very competitive, and works very hard at what he does. He really is playing very well right now."
Rhodes has a modest two interceptions this season, but his performance against top receivers has impressed.
Against Julio Jones last week, Rhodes allowed one catch for 13 yards in the nine snaps he covered Jones one-on-one according to USA Today analyst Steven Ruiz.
All total, Rhodes and the Vikings secondary _ which gave Rhodes very valuable help the couple of times Jones did beat him in coverage _ held one of the league's premiere receivers to two catches for 24 yards, just a week after Jones had a 253-yard, two-touchdown game.
It's not the first time former teammate Captain Munnerlyn can remember such a performance from the young cornerback.
"He's a beast. I did an interview three or four years ago when I first got there, and they asked me what I think about him, how he plays. And I told them I think he's a future Hall of Famer," said Munnerlyn this week.
"And everybody in the room was looking at me like 'What? He's only year two, year three!' And I was like, 'He has that type of potential.'
"I remember going into his third year, we asked him to guard Calvin Johnson the whole game. He went out there, he held Calvin Johnson to like, 50 yards. And I thought, 'Man, this is a young guy who is definitely going out there and competing at a very high level."
Munnerlyn said Rhodes will try to knock a receiver off his timing immediately at the line of scrimmage and has the speed to chase down a receiver if he is beaten at the line.
Funchess will need to play Rhodes physically and draw separation early in order to get any sort of momentum.
"If he's in your face and he's pressuring you, you will have trouble," Munnerlyn said. "Because he's a strong guy. He will get up in your face, pressure you and try to knock you off your timing. And he can run."
