2018’s Best Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Player: Christian McCaffrey, Running Back
2018’s Biggest Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Disappointment: Devin Funchess, Wide Receiver
2019 Fantasy Carolina Panthers Football Draft Wishlist: Offensive Tackle, Big Possession Receiver
The 2018 season did not go as the Carolina Panthers hoped. Namely, they hoped that Cam Newton’s surgically repaired shoulder would hold through the season. It did not. They hoped that hanging onto Devin Funchess going into the season would return dividends. It did not. They hoped that pairing C.J. Anderson with Christian McCaffrey would create a two-headed backfield productive at the DeAngelo Williams-Jonathon Stewart level. It did not. The Panthers continued their yo-yoing of record, going from 11-5 to 7-9.
Cam is a year older, and the ravages of time have made him look mortal. His shoulder is once again an issue. Both of these things lead to the two main wishes for fantasy football owners for the Panthers in the 2019 NFL draft.
Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Wishlist, Item 1: Offensive Tackle
The Panthers actually did a decent job of stopping opposing teams from knocking Cam Newton on his rear-end. The Panthers offensive line allowed the twelfth-fewest quarterback hits last season, and the 32 sacks they allowed tied for sixth-fewest last year. The only issue is that their offensive line is a sort-of mess going into 2019. Daryl Williams is solid at RT, but things get progressively sketchier as you from RT to LT. The Panthers hope Matt Paradis solidifies the interior, but I’m not hopeful. Carolina would be best suited kicking Moton to a swing tackle role and going after one of the LTs in this draft, like Jawaan Taylor, Jonah Williams, or Andre Dillard.
Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Wishlist, Item 2: Strong Man WR
I have to specify a specific type of wide receiver here because the duo of D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel has the Panthers all full up on speedy little receivers. They need a strong possession receiver. Now that they’ve learned that “big and slow” doesn’t mean someone is a possession receiver (see: Benjamin, Kelvin and Funchess, Devin), they’ve moved too far the other way. Their offense now needs a “my ball”-type guy for Cam to chuck it up to, especially with Greg Olsen’s days being numbered. My favorite for them to fill this role is Stanford wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. He is the strongest receiver at the point of the catch in this draft, and is exactly what fantasy football owners need to get extra value out of the Carolina Panthers in 2019.
Check out all of our 2019 NFL draft coverage, here
