According to Bill Barnwell at ESPN, Carolina’s weapons are ranked No. 5 in the NFL heading into the 2020 season.
The Panthers’ roster is not nearly as strong as it used to be. When the team almost went undefeated and made a trip to the Super Bowl during the 2015 season, they were stacked on defense at all three levels and led by a remarkable athlete in his prime at quarterback.
These days, this is a much different-looking team. In some ways, that script has been totally turned upside down. While that once-strong defensive unit has been decimated, the Panthers now have far better offensive weapons than they ever did at any point during Cam Newton’s peak years as the starter.
According to Bill Barnwell at ESPN, Carolina’s weapons are ranked No. 5 in the NFL heading into the 2020 season. That’s one spot higher than the Saints and a huge jump from last year when they were ranked No. 22. The big push up comes from the development of Christian McCaffrey and D.J. Moore.
“Everybody knows that McCaffrey is a star, but even given those numbers above, I’m not sure people are appropriately valuing Moore. The 2018 first-rounder finished with 1,175 receiving yards despite catching passes from Kyle Allen and a compromised Cam Newton. Moore could be a top-10 receiver with better quarterback play from Teddy Bridgewater this season.”
That he definitely could be.
Moore also has two very solid receivers behind him on the depth chart in Curtis Samuel and Robby Anderson, so Bridgewater won’t have the excuse that he doesn’t have firepower. If the new-look offensive line is even average in pass protection, he should be in for a career-best year.
As Barnwell mentioned, the big question mark is tight end Ian Thomas. The Panthers seem to have faith in him to step into Greg Olsen’s former role. If they’re interested in an upgrade, they should consider calling the Browns about David Njoku, who has requested a trade.
The NFL issued a set of safety protocols to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Let’s just say it didn’t go over well with the players.
To put it kindly, the NFL has not always been on the vanguard of player safety. One only has to go back to the league’s history regarding head trauma to confirm that. So, it should come as no surprise that as the league tries to manage the possibility of a safe season in the middle of an increasing coronavirus pandemic, there have been bumps along the way. NFLPA president and Browns center J.C. Tretter has addressed this at length, and two new rulings that came down from the league office on Thursday met with immediate derision from NFL players.
First, there’s the new rule against players exchanging jerseys after games, which seems hilarious after those same players have been crashing into each other for three hours.
NFL teams will be forbidden from postgame interactions within 6 feet of each other and jersey exchanges between players will be prohibited during the 2020 season, sources say.
Another way the NFL will look different in the COVID-19 world.
49ers cornerback Richard Sherman led the charge on this series of reactions, and he’s entirely correct.
This is a perfect example of NFL thinking in a nutshell. Players can go engage in a full contact game and do it safely. However, it is deemed unsafe for them to exchange jerseys after said game. 😂🤣😂 https://t.co/fWefsUSVDc
Of course, this is a ridiculous rule, and seems to be more about limiting player expression than anything else.
Then, there was a second rule which makes even less sense, if that’s at all possible.
Other game day protocols: Coaches and players won’t be required to wear masks on the sidelines. Everyone else in the bench does have to wear a mask. https://t.co/ovKPcCwaD9
Okay, so… we’re practicing social distancing when it comes to jersey exchanges, but we’re letting coaches and players interact on the sidelines without masks? And everyone else on the sideline has to wear a mask? Say what? There is no way to do the math on this and make it work.
The NFL is less than a month away from having training camps open on its particular schedule, and the fact that the league is throwing weird stuff like this out in the open when it comes to the absolutely vital aspect of player safety looms large when we talk about a 2020 NFL season starting on time, surviving a 16-game regular season and subsequent postseason, or existing at all. And having the players this up in arms about it does not bode well for the agreements that will need to take place before those players will take the field.
Here’s what Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore had to say about the jersey swaps.
The NFL has announced a series of new restrictions intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 this coming season. The set of rules for 2020 includes a ban on the media from locker rooms and teams being forced to travel to stadiums on a bus. Perhaps the most bizarre on the list is the ban on swapping jerseys after the game, which seems senseless after allowing them to hit each other for an hour.
Now, a lot of players around the league are questioning how exactly this is supposed to help. Here’s what Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore had to say about the jersey swaps.
What is stopping Jersey swap going to do? We already played in a whole game!! pic.twitter.com/S5XgYhs89Y
Linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. expressed a similar statement.
So apparently no jersey swaps after we just played a full game…help me understand lol
— Jermaine Carter Jr. (@JERMA1NECARTER) July 9, 2020
We would normally try to offer some kind of theory as to what the league is trying to accomplish here. Unfortunately, at this point trying to make sense of anything in 2020 is only going to give you headaches.
Panthers’ skill players among 5 fastest groups in the NFL
If the 2019 season taught us anything, it reinforced how important it is to have speed at the skill positions. The Chiefs’ dominance during their Super Bowl run was powered in large part by their ability to simply blow their opponents away with speed. While the Panthers can’t match Kansas City’s overall talent, this is one area they compare well in.
According to Daniel Jeremiah at NFL.com, Carolina’s offensive skill position players in 11 personnel are among the five fastest in the league right now based on 40-yard dash times.
We pulled 40 times for every team in the league and projected their lineup in 11 personnel (1RB, 1TE & 3WR) for 2020 season. Here are the 5 fastest groups in the league: pic.twitter.com/Ap7soqpnJs
Here’s how those 40-yard dash times break down for each player.
RB Christian McCaffrey: 4.48 seconds
WR D.J. Moore: 4.42 seconds
WR Curtis Samuel: 4.31 seconds
WR Robby Anderson: 4.36 seconds
TE Ian Thomas: 4.74 seconds
Good stuff.
If Carolina’s front line improves dramatically in pass protection and Joe Brady can unleash Teddy Bridgewater’s more aggressive instincts, this offense is going to surprise a lot of people.
D.J. Moore named most underrated player on the Panthers by NFL.com.
The Panthers aren’t expected to win much in 2020. Our projections have them going 6-10 and finishing in last place in the NFC South again. That’s on the generous end of most predictions too – some have Carolina going 3-13. So, fans will have to take what pleasures they can in watching their squad this year. For many, that means enjoying some of the team’s promising young pieces develop into stars.
One name to watch is wide receiver D.J. Moore, who has been named the most underrated player on the Panthers roster this year by Cynthia Frelund at NFL.com.
“Moore quietly ranked ninth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,175), with all four of his games of 100-plus receiving yards coming after Week 8. Further, he tied for fifth in receiving first downs (63). For fun, I’ll note that Moore had more receiving yards than DeAndre Hopkins and Stefon Diggs. For nerdiness, I’ll note that Moore’s win-contribution metric ranked 16th among wide receivers in 2019.”
It’s wild to see that Moore totaled more yards than Hopkins and Diggs considering the context.
Remember, Moore was handicapped as much as any WR1 in the league due to poor quarterback performance. Cam Newton was not healthy during the first two games of the season, then Moore and the rest of the receivers had to suffer through 12 games of Kyle Allen and two more from Will Grier. It’s tough to argue any team had worse QB play than the Panthers with one possible exception. In the end, Allen ranked No. 31 in average net yards per passing play (5.5), tying Daniel Jones and Mason Rudolph. Among starters, only Mitchell Trubisky was worse (5.2).
This year, Moore will get a massive upgrade with Teddy Bridgewater throwing his way. While he’s not going to challenge Patrick Mahomes for the average net yards title, Bridgewater excels at throwing to the short and intermediate areas of the field where Moore does most of his work.
Throw in the Year 3 leap that many first-round wide receivers make, and we can expect an explosive, breakout season from No. 12.
The Buccaneers and the Chiefs came in at the top of PFF’s list, followed by the Cowboys.
The strongest position group for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 is their wide receiver corps. They won’t be judged based on how deep they are compared to the rest of the roster, though. What matters is how capable their passing weapons are compared to other NFL teams.
According to Pro Football Focus this is a strong group. They just released their rankings of every receiver corps in the league this year and Carolina’s came in at No. 8 on their list. Here’s what they said.
“D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel provide a nice one-two punch, and the addition of Robby Anderson only strengthens the group. Anderson dealt with shaky accuracy downfield in New York, but he has earned a whopping 112 targets 20 or more yards downfield since 2016 (fifth in NFL). Add in Christian McCaffrey — the most valuable running back in the NFL since 2017 in terms of PFF WAR largely because of his contributions as a receiver — and the Panthers receiving corps sticks out as the strength of their team.”
The Buccaneers and the Chiefs came in at the top of PFF’s list, followed by the Cowboys.
While it’s hard to deny that those teams have more firepower overall (especially when we’re counting tight ends as PFF has) these Panthers probably could have ranked a little higher in our opinion.
Teams like the Lions (No. 7), and Saints (No. 4) have formidable two-headed monsters, but for our money there’s no better 1-2-3 at wide receiver in the NFL right now than D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel and Robby Anderson. Carolina also has the best pass-catching running back in football by far, so eight seems just a little low.
What might be holding them down is a lack of a playmaker at tight end. Ian Thomas is no Greg Olsen and his drop rate is a major concern if he’s going to have a significant role in Joe Brady’s new offense. Thomas needs to soften his hands and develop into a stud receiver or else the team will have to find another way to upgrade at this spot.
If they do, their receiver group (WR/RB/TE) can compete with anybody’s.
If you are wondering why this is a thing, Samuel’s name has been circulating as a potential trade target for some teams ever since Carolina signed former Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson last week. The thinking is that the Panthers may feel deep enough at this position to let somebody go. There’s no evidence to suggest any teams have actually inquired about Samuel, though. As far as we can tell, this is one of those purely media-driven narratives.
It makes sense to suggest it, though. Samuel is entering the last year of his rookie contract and is one of the league’s most underrated receivers. However, it appears the Panthers are aware of that and have no plans to trade him away. Injuries, medical issues and poor quarterback play have all driven down Samuel’s numbers to some extent. However, he has still managed an extremely impressive touchdown rate and may yet show he’s capable of elite production given enough opportunities.
Whether Samuel will have a better rapport with Teddy Bridgewater than Kyle Allen or Will Grier remains to be seen. One thing that’s clear is under offensive coordinator Joe Brady the plan is to continue the four and five receiver sets he used so often at LSU last season. So far, Carolina has signed Anderson plus Keith Kirkwood, Seth Roberts and Pharoh Cooper. They also re-signed DeAndrew White, bringing the total number of wide receivers on the roster to 10.
While the Roberts signing was a bit of a head-scratcher ($3.75 million for one year), building up at this spot is a good idea. Truth be told, Newton never really had a great wide receiver corps to work with during his time in Carolina. By contrast, Bridgewater is being set up to succeed in this area.
Starting with D.J. Moore and going all the way down to Ishmael Hyman, this is one of the deepest receiver rooms in football right now.
Anderson heads to the Carolina Panthers, but did he destroy his fantasy football value with one stroke of a pen?
(Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports)
What are fantasy football owners getting out of adding former New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson now that he is a member of the Carolina Panthers after inking a two-year, $20 million deal?
The answer is summed up in a few words: Streaky playmaker.
Why do we know this? Three straight seasons of consistent year-end figures that show a trend of week-to-week ebbs and flows like few others.
Table: Robby Anderson’s career stats (2016-19)
Season
Team
G
Targ
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Att
Yds
TD
FanPts
FanPts/G
2016
NYJ
14
78
42
587
14.0
2
3
42
0
116.9
8.4
2017
NYJ
16
114
63
941
14.9
7
3
9
0
200.0
12.5
2018
NYJ
14
94
50
752
15.0
6
2
-8
0
160.4
11.5
2019
NYJ
16
96
52
779
15.0
5
1
4
0
160.3
10.0
The scoring used in these tables is non-PPR — his optimal setting for fantasy returns. The takeaway should be regardless of the system or quarterback, the core metrics of Anderson’s game do not change to any notable degree. His catch-to-touchdown ratio hasn’t varied more than two grabs in the last three years, and Anderson’s yards-per-reception average hasn’t wavered enough to speak of since he entered the league.
When looking at the yearlong results on a weekly basis, we see massive swings in production.
Table: Robby Anderson’s 2019 per-game statistics
Wk
Opp
Targ
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Att
Yds
TD
FanPts
1
BUF
7
3
23
7.7
0
0
0
0
5.3
2
CLE
6
4
81
20.3
0
0
0
0
12.1
3
at NE
5
3
11
3.7
0
0
0
0
4.1
5
at PHI
3
1
16
16
0
0
0
0
2.6
6
DAL
8
5
125
25
1
0
0
0
23.5
7
NE
8
1
10
10
0
0
0
0
2.0
8
at JAC
6
4
43
10.8
0
0
0
0
8.3
9
at MIA
4
2
33
16.5
0
0
0
0
5.3
10
NYG
3
1
11
11
0
0
0
0
2.1
11
at WAS
3
1
6
6.0
1
0
0
0
7.6
12
OAK
5
4
86
21.5
1
0
0
0
18.6
13
at CIN
10
7
101
14.4
0
0
0
0
17.1
14
MIA
11
7
117
16.7
1
1
4
0
25.1
15
at BAL
6
4
66
16.5
0
0
0
0
10.6
16
PIT
4
2
32
16
1
0
0
0
11.2
17
at BUF
7
3
18
6.0
0
0
0
0
4.8
All five scores came in different games, which is good for fantasy owners in weekly, head-to-head leagues.
Unfortunately, 80 percent of them came in a five-games span.
Since Week 12, he closed out the year strong in all but the finale, and it wasn’t for a lack of targets in that one.
Table: Robby Anderson’s 2018 per-game statistics
Wk
Opp
Targ
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Att
Yds
TD
FanPts
1
at DET
1
1
41
41
1
1
-9
0
10.2
2
MIA
5
3
27
9.0
0
0
0
0
5.7
3
at CLE
4
2
22
11
0
0
0
0
4.2
4
at JAC
6
2
18
9
0
0
0
0
3.8
5
DEN
5
3
123
41
2
0
0
0
27.3
6
IND
5
3
39
13
0
0
0
0
6.9
7
MIN
10
3
44
14.7
0
0
0
0
7.4
9
at MIA
7
4
32
8.0
0
1
1
0
7.3
12
NE
5
2
22
11
0
0
0
0
4.2
13
at TEN
7
4
48
12
0
0
0
0
8.8
14
at BUF
7
4
76
19
1
0
0
0
17.6
15
HOU
11
7
96
13.7
1
0
0
0
22.6
16
GB
13
9
140
15.6
1
0
0
0
29.0
17
at NE
8
3
24
8.0
0
0
0
0
5.4
Six touchdowns and half came in three consecutive games late in the year.
One score over the first month, and it came on a lone grab.
Struggled to exploit top-level competition most of the time.
Table: Robby Anderson’s 2017 per-game statistics
Wk
Opp
Targ
Rec
Yds
Avg
TD
Att
Yds
TD
FanPts
1
at BUF
8
4
22
5.5
0
0
0
0
6.2
2
at OAK
4
2
28
14.0
0
0
0
0
4.8
3
MIA
6
3
95
31.7
1
0
0
0
18.5
4
JAC
6
3
59
19.7
0
0
0
0
8.9
5
at CLE
5
2
16
8.0
0
0
0
0
3.6
6
NE
12
4
76
19
0
0
0
0
11.6
7
at MIA
5
3
35
11.7
1
0
0
0
12.5
8
ATL
6
6
104
17.3
1
1
1
0
22.5
9
BUF
5
4
48
12
1
0
0
0
14.8
10
at TB
7
4
85
21.3
1
0
0
0
18.5
12
CAR
10
6
146
24.3
2
0
0
0
32.6
13
KC
12
8
107
13.4
0
1
7
0
19.4
14
at DEN
6
3
27
9.0
0
0
0
0
5.7
15
at NO
12
5
40
8.0
0
0
0
0
9.0
16
LAC
7
5
51
10.2
0
0
0
0
10.1
17
at NE
3
1
2
2.0
0
1
1
0
1.3
Unlike the two more recent seasons, Anderson didn’t close out strong in 2017. But he also didn’t start hot, finding the end zone only once in the first six outings.
He did, however, score six times in a five-game span from Week 7-12. The Jets were on bye in Week 11.
Anderson averaged just 3.7 catches in the 10 games without a score that year.
[lawrence-related id=448889,449273]
Obviously more goes into a player’s value than his talents and past. The problem here is even if one overlooks Anderson’s demonstrable traits as a football player, he enters a lousy situation to achieve his potential from a statistical perspective.
In Carolina, he’ll catch passes from a game manager in Teddy Bridgewater and have to fight for targets in a moderate-volume passing attack with reception-hog D.J. Moore and do-all wideout Curtis Samuel. We haven’t even addressed that guy in the backfield with 107-plus catches in consecutive seasons…
Going one step further, a rookie head coach and first-time offensive coordinator shouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt 99 percent of the time, and this isn’t the one that falls in that 1 percentile.
Fantasy football takeaway
Few receivers can take a football anywhere on the field and turn it into six points in the way Anderson is capable of doing, but players need more tricks in the bag than “go deep” to become a multifaceted fantasy contributor.
It is far more likely that we’ve seen his ceiling already when compared to what to expect in Carolina. We also may know his floor to be a risk-reward matchup-based, WR3/flex play. But all of that may come with a not so obvious trapdoor in Carolina’s offense, and he realistically could be facing a ceiling somewhere in that flex range if consistency is on your radar — and it needs to be.
As mentioned, his value is at its peak in non-PPR leagues. To Anderson’s credit, he appears to have cleaned up his off-the-field antics, so at least that is going for him.
The Jets should not be worried about Robby Anderson reuniting with his former college coach, Matt Rhule with the Carolina Panthers.
The Jets may have some competition with the Carolina Panthers for the services of Robby Anderson once free agency rolls around.
Matt Rhule was hired to be the Panthers’ new head coach on Tuesday. Anderson, set to hit the open market, played under Rhule while the two were at Temple together. During exit interviews last week, Anderson was asked about the possibility of reuniting with his former college head coach in the NFL and wasn’t opposed to it.
However, the Panthers don’t really have a need for a wide receiver. They have two young wideouts in D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel that have a ton of promise. Meanwhile, Carolina only has about $30 million in cap space, so unless the Panthers feel the need to add a high-priced vertical threat, then a reunion between Anderson and Rhule seems unlikely.
So that’s one potential suitor the Jets probably don’t have to worry about competing against.
In two seasons under Rhule at Temple, Anderson recorded 1,730 receiving yards and 16 total touchdowns.
Now, he is set to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. He is coming off a 779-yard season with five touchdowns and is expected to receive in the range of $13-15 million annually. Anderson has already said he will not give the Jets a hometown discount.
In terms of the Panthers, though, the Jets shouldn’t feel threatened by them unless Rhule goes out of his way to make it a priority to sign Anderson in free agency. Even then, it’s hard to imagine the Panthers will meet Anderson’s price tag.
Here’s a look at who won’t be in the lineup today.
The Panthers will kick off the last game of the year against the Saints in about 90 minutes.
Here’s a look at who won’t be in the lineup today.
WR D.J. Moore
LB Shaq Thompson
DE Marquis Haynes
CB Corn Elder
OL Matt Kaskey
DE Christian Miller
DT Woodrow Hamilton
Moore suffered a concussion early last week against the Colts and is still in the protocol. Expect to see more reps for Chris Hogan and Brandon Zylstra with him out. Thompson underwent shoulder surgery a few days ago, so Jermaine Carter Jr. will take his place again. Haynes is dealing with a knee injury and Elder has the bug that’s been going around the locker room.
The rest are healthy scratches.
As for the Saints, they’re resting a few starters in the secondary. Safeties Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams and cornerback Eli Apple are all inactive.
