4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW: CAROLINA PANTHERS (2021)
We’re kicking off our 64 articles in 32 days 4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW SERIES today with the Carolina Panthers! This AM we’re talking offense and later today we’ll be releasing our IDP outlook, so stay tuned!
The Carolina Panthers are still in a rebuild from the departure of long-term quarterback Cam Newton and they brought in Sam Darnold from the New York Jets to see if they can turn him into their quarterback of the future. With Christian McCaffrey returning from injury, DJ Moore and Robby Anderson out wide, and some intriguing rookies, the Panthers’ offense is looking brighter by the day.
So which players on offense can bring you a 4-EYED Championship in 2021?
Let’s find out below!
Quarterback
Sam Darnold
At Fantasy In Frames, we usually try to incorporate stats into why you should be looking into a player to help you play fantasy smarter. Darnold’s time on the New York Jets definitely didn’t go as planned and he doesn’t really have much going for him in the way of positive stats. The one thing that can help open up the Panthers offense is that PFF graded Darnold as the second-best running quarterback because Darnold had 11 carries that went for 217 yards. But, Darnold’s current ADP has him as the QB26 so definitely leave him undrafted when it comes to your leagues. That being said, this may be my being a homer coming out, but I am going to be keeping an eye on Darnold’s early-season fantasy outings. Darnold starts with a revenge game against the Jets, then plays the Texans, Cowboys, and Eagles in four of the team’s first five games. If Darnold puts up one or two QB1 performances in that stretch, he will definitely be streamable down the road.
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey
McCaffrey played in only three games last year and still managed to be the RB53 on the season. He had 27.3 points per game on 59 rushes, 225 yards and five touchdowns. He added 17 receptions on 19 targets and turned those into 149 additional yards and another touchdown. For running backs with at least 19 targets in 2020, McCaffrey still ranked 10th in yards per reception and sixth in yards per route run. Because of McCaffrey’s skill set, he is widely regarded as a top pick in redraft leagues with his current ADP has him as the 1.01 in leagues. Also, in 2019 when McCaffrey last played a full season, he finished with 123 more fantasy points than the RB2 and averaged 25.8 points per game.
Chuba Hubbard?
The Panthers back up running back last year was Mike Davis who finished as fantasy’s RB15 mainly due to the amount of time that McCaffrey missed. Davis is now on the Atlanta Falcons and so keep an eye on the pre-season for the Panthers because rookie fourth-rounder Chuba Hubbard out of Oklahoma State may be the new backup to look for if McCaffrey were to miss more time this season.
Wide Receivers
D.J. Moore
The first of the Panthers dynamic duo in the receiving game is D.J. Moore (not to be confused with David Moore who the Panthers signed as a free agent in the offseason). D.J. Moore is going into the final year of his rookie contract, but the team has already exercised his fifth-year option so the Panthers have him signed through the 2022 season. Last season, Moore finished as the WR22 with 66 receptions, 1,193 yards and four touchdowns. Even though Moore did bring in only 58.4% of his targets, he still ranked second among wide receivers with at least 81 targets in yards per reception. He also ranked second in yards after the catch per reception and he ranked eighth in yards per route run. Moore’s current ADP has him as the WR18 which is pretty good value for him.
Robby Anderson
The Boy Wonder to Moore’s Batman, Robby Anderson made fantasy managers very happy last year. Anderson had the eighth-most targets and receptions last season for a wide receiver and he had the 13th most receiving yards. He had the fifth-most yards after the catch and the eighth-most yards after the catch per reception so few were better than Anderson when he got into space which he did fairly often playing out of the slot for the Panthers. Anderson is reuniting with Sam Darnold as the two were teammates in New York. In the two seasons that they played together, Anderson finished as the WR36 and the WR39 which doesn’t bode super well. That being said, this Panthers offense should be much better than the Jets one from years past and so I still think you should view Anderson as a top-25 receiver this season.
Tight End
Dan Arnold or Ian Thomas?
Sam Darnold doesn’t have a track record of involving his tight ends and the Panthers offense hasn’t worked them in since Rhule took over. Leave these guys on draft boards this season and at best they may be streamable against a team that can’t defend tight ends, but that is the highest ceiling they would have at this point.