Kelvin Benjamin says he tanked at combine so he would drop to Panthers

Kelvin Benjamin was a man on a mission.

The wide receiver out of Florida State knew exactly where he wanted to play in the NFL and knew exactly how to get there.

Perform poorly at the scouting combine.

Or so he says.

The rookie receiver told ESPN he purposely turned in a sub-par performance in the 40-yard dash “because I wanted to play for the Carolina Panthers.’’

Well, who doesn’t?

Benjamin executed his plan perfectly, running a 4.61-second 40 -- which is two-tenths of a second slower than what he says is his best time -- back in February, somehow knowing that it would drop him just far enough to be snatched by his dream team with the 28th pick overall.

Oh, yeah, and lose millions of dollars in the process. I’m sure that was part of his master plan as well.

The Panthers did need help at the receiver spot and Benjamin has provided just that. He has 38 receptions for 571 yards and five touchdowns, and was named the NFL offensive rookie of the month for September.

So everything worked out for both sides ... because, you know, Benjamin meant to do that.

Twitter: @chewkiii