How did the Panthers do in fantasy football? Will those trends continue?
The Carolina Panthers allegedly played a football game last weekend against the New Orleans Saints. Let’s take a look back at how Panthers players fared and if they are worth keeping moving forward. For these articles, I will be using fantasy totals in an ESPN Fantasy league I am part of, so your numbers might have been slightly different.
Quarterback
Bryce Young
Oof. Despite a relatively low projection of around 14 points, Bryce didn’t even break double digits in his first game in Dave Canales’ offense (9.64 points). Young only threw for 161 yards and two interceptions. His only saving grace was the late rushing touchdown (that he barely got over the plane of the endzone before fumbling). Bryce missed open receivers, looked nervous even in decent pockets, and generally did not live up to the billing of a former number one overall pick.
Runningback
Chuba Hubbard
Despite Canales swearing he’ll be dedicated to the run game, the massive early deficit led to only 14 yards on six carries for the Panthers leading rusher from last season. I definitely expect Hubbard to get more carries moving forward, and I hope the yards per carry will improve with opportunities to tote the rock.
Miles Sanders
Sanders got almost as many carries as Hubbard, which is a big change from last season. He also managed more yards (22) and a much better 4.4 yards per carry. Still, he only managed 2.2 fantasy points. Just like with Hubbard, I expect more opportunities moving forward, but I still wouldn’t waste a roster spot until either back proves themselves.
Wide Receiver
Diontae Johnson
One of the Panthers’ biggest additions of the offseason did not do much to impress from a fantasy standpoint. Add in the fact that Donte Jackson got an interception in his Steelers debut, and Panthers fans are allowed to be frustrated. Still, most of the blame for his lack of production falls on Bryce Young. Johnson had six targets but only two catchable balls. Otherwise he dealt with massive overthrows and missed opportunities. Don’t drop Johnson just yet, but keep him on the bench until the quarterback play improves.
Adam Thielen
Thielen led the team in receiving yards with…*checks notes*…49. Yikes. Another victim of poor quarterbacking, Thielen (and Johnson for that matter) showed the potential for big plays as they both managed receptions of over 30 yards. Still, 7.9 fantasy points in a PPR league is not good enough for Thielen. I would treat Thielen the same as Johnson: don’t bail yet, but don’t rely on him either.
Xavier Legette
The rookie surprisingly led the team in catches with four, but still only managed 7.5 points due to only netting 35 yards. His catches were impressive in the fact that he was very open for the majority of them, which is promising. Legette will look to improve his chemistry with Bryce Young, but he’s in the same boat as all receiving options for the Panthers right now.
Tight End
Ja’Tavion Sanders
Obviously expecting a fourth round rookie to come in and light the world on fire would be a bad idea. I still believe in Sanders moving forward, though. He caught his only target for four yards, which only got him 1.4 fantasy points. Dead horse and all, but it’s hard to truly evaluate Sanders with the quarterback play he endured on Sunday.
Jordan Matthews
Matthews was only targeted one time, and it’s hard for him to be a touchdown hawk when the offense doesn’t throw for any touchdowns. It was a nice thought, but Matthews probably doesn’t have much consistent viability moving forward as a fantasy option.
Defense/Special Teams
Sigh. Man. What was supposed to be a strength of the team heading into the season earned a whopping negative three fantasy points against the Saints. Granted, the offense didn’t do them any favors, but that’s par for the course the last couple of seasons. The defense also lost Derrick Brown, likely for the entire season, so it will likely be tough sledding from here on out. The only reason to even keep tabs on the Panthers D/ST in fantasy is to see if the quarterback they are playing against is available.