Carolina Panthers

Head Coach: Ron Rivera (6th year)
Offensive Coordinator: Mike Shula (4th year)
Defensive Coordinator: Sean McDermott (6th year)

Depth Chart

Quarterback: Cam Newton, Derek Anderson, Joe Webb
Running Back: Jonathan Stewart, Cameron Artis-Payne, Fozzy Whittaker
Wide Receiver: Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr., Philly Brown
Tight End: Greg Olsen, Ed Dickson
Kicker: Graham Gano
Defense/Spec Teams: 2015-Finished 6th in yards against and 6th in points against. Finished 6th in sacks and 1st in interceptions.

Coaching Philosophy

Panthers’ offensive coordinator Mike Shula is by trade, a quarterback coach and his hard work paid off last year as Cam Newton led Carolina to the Super Bowl. Maybe more important than that however, is they also led many fantasy owners to a fantasy championship. Well done, boys! Newton was fantasy’s number one quarterback in 2015 and with an aging Jonathan Stewart as well as Kelvin Benjamin returning from missing last season, I can see the transition from a run first team, to a more balanced attack, continuing in the near future. Another thing that is enticing about the Carolina offense is that they finished eighth in offensive plays from scrimmage last season and a higher pace means more plays and more potential for fantasy production. It should be a good year to target players from the Panthers…particularly in the passing game.

Fantasy Outlook

Panthers Quarterbacks

Cam Newton’s number says it all about his fantasy production in 2015.

It was a season for the ages for Cam Newton in 2015. According to fantasyfootballcalculator.com, He was the 15th quarterback drafted in fantasy football last season, yet he finished as the clear, number one fantasy quarterback last year and helped many teams earn a fantasy championship. So how did he do it? He must have had an all-time in in pass attempts for him to become number one. Nope. He had 296 pass attempts which was the second highest in his career but only eight attempts above his average of 288 per year. He must have thrown for a ton of yards then. Once again, nope. His 3,837 yards was the third highest passing yard total in his five year career and over 200 yards less than his 4,051 yards in 2011. Well, since Cam is a rushing quarterback, it must have been his rushing yards and touchdowns. It wasn’t that either. His 636 yards rushing was the third highest mark in his five years and over 100 yards less than his career high and his ten rushing touchdowns was great, but four less than his career mark of 14.

Where Cam really excelled last season and what made him “Elite” was in the passing touchdowns category. He threw for 35 touchdowns, and that was by far the most of his career. His previous high was in the 2013 season when he threw for 24 scores. That’s what makes me think he can be almost as good this year as he was last. He doesn’t have to replicate career highs in passing yards, touchdowns, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He just has to do it with touchdowns. Even if he doesn’t, he was the number one fantasy quarterback by about 40 points over the number two quarterback, Tom Brady, so he could lose six or seven scores and still be towards the top in the rankings. With Kelvin Benjamin returning this season, Devin Funchess drawing praise in training camp and a reliable tight end in Greg Olsen, I think he very well could hit 30 or more touchdowns again this year and once again be among the top fantasy quarterbacks.

Panthers Running Backs

Jonathan Stewart = Meh

29 year old, Jonathan Stewart is the epitome of a mediocre, fantasy running back. When healthy,  he’s almost a lock for 20 or so carries per game, yet he doesn’t do much with those carries. He only topped 100 yards in two games last year, he is not heavily used in the passing game and over the last four seasons, he’s only managed ten rushing touchdowns in 41 games. He is nearing that dreaded age 30 and with the Panthers having several good weapons in the passing game, I fear that his opportunity to breakout has passed him by. It also doesn’t help that his quarterback is a much better goal line back than him, limiting his opportunities to score. Here’s my take on Stewart. He’s a decent guy to draft as your first bench running back and a relatively safe guy to plug in if you have injury or bye week issues. He’s not going to light up the box score, but he likely won’t kill you either. I wouldn’t like to have to count on him every week, but he’s solid bench material for your roster. Cameron Artis-Payne looks to be the handcuff for Stewart owners and with the amount Stewart is hurt, he may not be a bad guy to pick up at the end of drafts as a late round flier.

Panthers Wide Receivers

While I like the fact that Kelvin Benjamin is returning this year, I fear he may not live up to his loft average draft position.

Last year, many were anxiously waiting to see if Kelvin Benjamin could replicate his fantastic rookie performance. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in training camp and missed the entire 2015 season. Going into 2016, many are expecting Benjamin to take the next step and become an elite fantasy wide receiver. I’m not so sure I’m hopping aboard that train. First of all, I think we can expect to see Benjamin get eased back into action. There have been reports out of camp that Benjamin has been struggling with conditioning, so I don’t see a heavy workload for him to kick off the season. Secondly, the Panthers spent an early pick on Devin Funchess last year and with Ted Ginn becoming a piece of the offense, it’s not unreasonable that Benjamin could see a reduction in targets in 2016. Finally, the aforementioned Funchess is 6’5″, 225 pounds and is a nice red zone target. He and Newton developed a rapport as the season went on and he scored five touchdowns in the last nine games. A lot of Benjamin’s fantasy success came from his nine scores and with he, Funchess and Greg Olsen competing for scores, I sense a reduction in touchdowns to go along with his decrease in targets. He’s currently being drafted as the number 21 wide receiver off the board in the late third or early fourth round and that’s a little too steep for my taste.

Someone who may be a little better value if you are looking for a receiver from the Panthers, might be sophomore wideout, Devin Funchess. Funchess has been getting rave reviews from training camp and looks to see more time on the field in year two. He’s still battling Ted Ginn for the number two receiver job, but I fully expect Funchess to be a larger part of the offense. Ginn had a career year last year that was primarily built on scoring ten touchdowns on only 44 receptions. To give you an idea on how crazy that was, Ginn had a grand total of 11 touchdowns over his previous eight seasons in the league. Funchess finished the season with five scores in the Panthers last nine games and at 6’5″ and 225 pounds, is a much better touchdown threat than Ginn. Funchess is currently being drafted as the 43rd wide receiver off the board in roughly the ninth round and I think that’s a much better value than Kelvin Benjamin in the third or fourth round. With Benjamin back, Funchess emerging, and the always solid tight end, Greg Olsen ahead of Ginn in the pecking order, the veteran is off my draft board in 12 team leagues.

Panthers Tight Ends

If you’re looking for one of the safest tight ends in fantasy, look no further than Greg Olsen. Except for his rookie season in 2007 where Olsen played in “only” 14 games, he hasn’t missed a single game the rest of his career. He also has had at least 104 targets in each of the last four seasons and hasn’t had fewer than 69 receptions. Throw in the fact that he had more than 1,000 yards receiving the past two years and has had in between five and eight touchdowns in each of his last eight years, and you couldn’t ask for a safer tight end. If you’re a “play it safe” kind of person, Olsen would be my pick for the number two, fantasy tight end behind Gronk. If you’re a “swing for the fences” kind of player, I would rank him third behind Jordan Reed. Whichever way you go, Olsen should be one of the top three tight ends off the board in 2016.

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