How did the Panthers do in fantasy football? Will those trends continue?
The Carolina Panthers fought well for most of the game but ultimately fell short against the Atlanta Falcons in Week Six of the NFL season. 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
Andy Dalton
Dalton has been inconsistent this season, which is still better than the consistently bad quarterback play they were getting the first couple weeks of the season. He had a couple bad interceptions, which brought his overall score down, but his 221 passing yards and two touchdowns still got him to a respectable 14.94 fantasy points. Dalton is definitely still a bye week option at worst in most leagues.
Running Backs
Chuba Hubbard
Dave Canales needs to get this man more touches. Despite only 18 carries on the day, Hubbard managed 92 yards and was involved a bit in the passing game to end the game with 15.3 fantasy points. With other running backs around the league dropping like flies, continue to ride Hubbard as a starter until the wheels fall off. Or until the cavalry shows up in the form of…
Jonathon Brooks
Coach Canales on Monday reported that the Panthers are going to open the 21-day window for Brooks to return to practice from the NFI list. With Miles Sanders not living up to his first name in terms of yardage, expect Brooks to be the main change of pace back early on after his return. Once he’s back to full strength, I expect his usage to increase. Hopefully Canales runs more of those two running back sets except with Brooks and Hubbard both on the field. Brooks might be worth stashing on IR if you need running backs.
Wide Receivers
Diontae Johnson
What more is there to say about Johnson’s impact on this offense? After a disappointing week (for everyone on offense) against Chicago, Johnson caught six of his ten targets this week for 78 yards and a touchdown, earning him 19.8 fantasy points. Since Dalton has taken the reins, Johnson has managed at least that many points three out of the four weeks. When Dalton is even partially on, Johnson is a must start.
Xavier Legette
Legette is still learning the trade, but he’s been a touchdown threat in two of the last three weeks. Against the Falcons, he caught three of his four targets for only 23 yards, but he did find pay dirt, helping him up to 11.3 fantasy points. Legette will hopefully get an increased target share as he continues to adjust to the pro game. If you’re desperate for a wide receiver because of byes or injuries, he might be one to consider.
Jalen Coker
After a surprisingly solid performance against Chicago when no one else on offense came to play, Coker saw even more of the field against Atlanta. He only had three targets, but caught all of them for 30 yards and a total of 6.0 fantasy points. Like Legette, Coker should see an uptick in target share as he and Dalton get more comfortable together. Coker could be an emergency wide receiver option in the short term, but we’ll have to see if his snap count changes when Adam Thielen returns.