NFL Fantasy Preview: Carolina Panthers

In a 32-part series leading up to the start of the 2021 National Football League season, we will take a look at each NFL franchise from a fantasy perspective. The fifth team we will review is the Carolina Panthers.

Heading into the 2020 National Football League regular season, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey of Castle Rock, Colorado was the consensus number one pick in fantasy football. In 2019, he had a dream season, leading the NFL with 2392 yards from scrimmage and total number of touchdowns through rushing and receiving with 19.

However anyone who picked McCaffrey (including yours truly in one of three fantasy football pools I was in), it was an absolute, bloody nightmare. Due to various injuries, McCaffrey only played three games where he had 59 rushes for 225 yards, and five touchdowns, alongside 17 catches for 149 yards and one major score.

Due to McCaffrey’s 2019 success, many fantasy owners are picking McCaffrey high again in 2021. I am not one of those owners. McCaffrey does deserve to be selected in the top 10, but you cannot ignore his serious high ankle sprain and shoulder injury which forced him to miss 13 games. McCaffrey is sixth among running backs in my fantasy rankings in 2021.

Carolina will also have a new quarterback in 2021, as in the offseason they acquired Sam Darnold from the New York Jets. Whenever one contemplates picking a Jets player from a year ago, I suggest you literally stay away. There is a reason why the Jets were a disastrous 2-14 a year ago, and part of the reason was because of the poor quarterbacking of Darnold.

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You cannot blame all of the Jets problems on Darnold. But it doesn’t take long to glance over his statistics to determine there are better quarterback options available in the fantasy world. That is what happens when you have a ESPN quarterback rating of 40.1, only two wins in 12 games, and more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (nine). Out of 32 starting quarterbacks, Darnold is ranked 30th.

When it comes to wide receivers, D.J. Moore is ranked 17th and Robby Anderson is ranked 34th. Moore had 66 catches for 1193 yards and four touchdowns, while Anderson had 95 catches for 1096 yards and three touchdowns. If you are deliberating between Anderson and Moore, remember one thing. Anderson has two years of chemistry with Darnold while with the Jets in 2018 and 2019. Does this mean Anderson will have a better season than Moore? Maybe, maybe not, but chemistry does mean something, and it may take longer for Darnold and Moore to get on the same page.

It looks like it might be a challenging year for Carolina in the NFC South. Especially when you remember they are in the same division as the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the offensively and defensively skilled New Orleans Saints. After going 5-11 last year, six wings may be considered a success in 2021.

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