How did the Panthers do in fantasy football? Will those trends continue?
The Carolina Panthers took the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs to the brink last Sunday, but some Mahomes magic gave the Panthers a hard fought loss. Let’s take a look back at how individual 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
Alabama Bryce might just be back! During the game on Sunday, Bryce was throwing with anticipation and touch while making all the right reads. His receivers failed him a couple of times, but overall he had his best game as a pro. Fantasy wise, this was definitely a solid performance as well. Bryce finished with 263 yards passing and a touchdown, giving him 16.52 fantasy points on the day. That’s a damn fine showing against a pretty stout Chiefs defense. If he can continue this mojo moving forward, he could be a guy to sneak onto your roster for next year in dynasty leagues.
Running Backs
Chuba Hubbard
Coming off two dominant fantasy performances before the bye, Hubbard had another good outing against KC. He only had 16 carries for 58 yards, but found the end zone, pushing him to 15.0 fantasy points. That production required a great second half performance since he only had a handful of carries in the first half. As long as Canales stops abandoning the run game early on, Chuba is RB1 for most fantasy teams.
Wide Receivers
Xavier Legette
Legette had a solid game overall, but the bitter taste in his mouth following the loss was a bad drop on a beautiful deep ball by Bryce Young. That could have easily added 30 yards to an already solid day for the QB and the receiving. Legette finished with four catches for 56 yards, good for 9.6 fantasy points. His production has been a little hit or miss (though more hits lately, to be fair), so his playability the rest of the season is a little volatile. Keep him on your roster in case of late season injuries, but i don’t recommend starting him over more established options.
Adam Thielen
The old man was back for the first time since week three against the Raiders, and he had some rust to knock off. He only had four targets, but caught three of them for 57 yards, good for 8.7 fantasy points. That’s a very impressive yards per catch for Thielen, so if he can get back to his normal volume (remember, he caught 100 passes last year), then he could be worth a roster spot as you start thinking about fantasy playoffs seeding.
Tight Ends
Ja’Tavion Sanders
Man, what could have been in that game. Sanders had to exit the game in the first half after a very scary moment. While getting tackled out of bounds, Sanders landed directly in the top of his head and bounced off the turf. He was taken to a local hospital and released a few hours later, thank goodness. Before he left the game, he caught all three of his targets for 49 yards, including an awesome “go up and get it” ball from Bryce. Tommy Tremble got a target in the end zone but couldn’t haul it in, and many Panthers fans believe Sanders would have been able to snag it had he been in the game to get that target. Even without that touchdown and missing over half the game, he still managed 7.9 fantasy points. If he’s healthy, he might be worth a TE2 slot or FLEX4 slot on your roster.