Carolina Panthers: Christian McCaffrey expected to carry much of the load

Christian McCaffrey is going to see a lot of playing time in his second year with the Carolina Panthers.

It’s a documented point that the Carolina Panthers lean heavily on their running game to find success. Year after year, the Panthers are ranked amongst the best rushing attacks in the league. They are looking to continue that trend in 2018, but there are a few new faces in this running corps. Among them, Christian McCaffrey is poised to be the man that carries much of the load and as he goes, this Panthers rushing attack will go.

Now a second-year back, McCaffrey turned a lot of heads during his rookie year. When Carolina drafted him with their first-round pick, going No. 8 overall, everyone knew that the team was getting a versatile option that would impact both the rushing and the passing game.

McCaffrey ended the 2017 season averaging 7.3 carries and five receptions per game, which allowed him to earn a combined 1,086 yards and seven touchdowns. According to members of the Panthers coaching staff, he’s expected to take on a bigger part of the running load — especially now that Jonathan Stewart was released earlier this year.

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“I could see Christian, especially if he continues to develop the way we think he can, being a very integral part of what we want to do,” head coach Ron Rivera said, as reported by David Newton of ESPN. “I don’t want to get to the point where everything starts through him, because it’ll always be through the quarterback. But he can be one of those guys that hopefully get the ball 25 to 30 times a game. That would be ideal.”

This isn’t a surprising statement, as McCaffrey was clearly dubbed the future leader of the Panthers’ running game. But it’s still intriguing to see how he works carrying such a large part of the Panthers’ offense, because this is and seemingly will always be a run-first team. At Stanford he did just that in 2015 and 2016 where he had 337 and 253 attempts respectively. McCaffrey has shown that he is a healthy player, but this is at a different level when it comes to carrying the full load for a team like Carolina.

Plus, this development opens up questions about how much running Cam Newton will do. In the past, Carolina built much of their rushing game around his ability to take off. But the last few seasons have shown that teams are going to play much more physical against the former Heisman trophy winner. So leveraging McCaffrey, Cameron Artis-Payne and the newly acquired C.J. Anderson should help relieve some of that pressure on Newton. Anderson is another individual who has carried a full load as he averaged 15 carries a game for Denver just a season ago.

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Christian McCaffrey should be on everyone’s short list for next year’s most improved player award. The Panthers are going to lean on him heavily to carry the load for this running attack. The Panthers have found a way to go from a two-back running offense, to a single back in Stewart. Now that role is being transitioned to McCaffrey and with his duel threat abilities, which should help the Panthers reignite some intrigue into this offense.

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