Fantasy Football Stock Watch: NFC South Risers and fallers
By Drew DeLuca
Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football Stock Watch
Last year, as Cam Newton struggled to get healthy, his replacements Will Grier and Kyle Allen and just plain struggled. Teddy Bridgewater, an intelligent passer who makes quick, wise decisions with the football, should play at a much higher level in a new offense concocted by new head coach Matt Rhule and former LSU offensive mastermind Joe Brady.
If there’s a sure thing in fantasy, it’s Christian McCaffrey, especially in a new scheme that’s tailor-made to for a receiving back of his caliber. A second consecutive season of 2,000 total yards and 15 or more touchdowns is not just possible, but rather quite likely for the consensus top overall pick in all fantasy football formats.
The wide receiving corps received a shot in the arm in the form of Robby Anderson, who played under Rhule at Temple and should fit into the offense much easier than the average free agent. Curtis Samuel similarly offers big-play potential, but the star of the show is rising star D.J. Moore.
A focal point of an anemic Panthers aerial attack, the third-year wide receiver from Maryland was targeted 135 times, hauling in 87 receptions for 1175 yards and four touchdowns. An overhauled offense plus a quarterback upgrade should equal an even greater performance from Moore in 2020.
Longtime tight end Greg Olsen has moved onto rainier pastures in Seattle for what will likely be his swan song, a move that gives Ian Thomas his chance to shine in Carolina. Those who claim Thomas regressed from a statistical standpoint fail to acknowledge the small sample size caused by Olsen’s jaw-dropping ability to remain healthy for an entire season.
In Thomas’ rookie campaign, he made the most of an expanded role, catching 36 of 49 passes, a catch rate of 73.5 percent, which ranked fifth in the NFL among tight ends who saw at least 45 targets, higher than both George Kittle and Travis Kelce. While it would be foolish to expect production on a level with those two in 2020, Thomas does offer great value in the late rounds of deeper fantasy football leagues as he ascends to the role of the primary tight end in an underrated offense.