Uriah Wesson 
Are you ready? We told you that we had some great things in the works at Win Daily Sports and now that the dust has settled on the NFL draft, we can take a long hard look at all 32 NFL teams so that we can go into the fantasy draft season and week one DFS and destroy the competition right out of the gate. We are going to cover every possible angle so that nothing surprises you. So, without further ado here is the 2nd of 32. Stoweby’s 2021 NFL Fantasy Preview: Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers:
2020 Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Matt Rhule
Offensive Coordinator: Joe Brady
Defensive Coordinator: Phil Snow
Stoweby’s 2021 NFL Fantasy Preview: Carolina Panthers
Overview:
The NFC South is shaping up to be a really interesting start to the post draft fantasy breakdowns just due to the combination of coaching changes, signings, drafts, and comeback scenarios. The Carolina Panthers are staying put from the coaching side but they rescued brought in Sam Darnold from the Jets this season and one thing that we have seen consistently is that players tend to do better when they get away from Adam Gase.
Knowing how Joe Brady ran his offenses in previous seasons one thing is clear. Teddy Bridgewater severely handcuffed him in terms of how deep he could go into the playbook. If you are unaware he was the offensive mastermind for LSU in the late 2010s. He wants to air it out and if you look at this heat map image you can see how even Drew Brees targeted receivers further downfield than Bridgewater. Now look at how Sam Darnold brings the ability to push the ball downfield compared to both and you know what Brady aiming for.
The question is: Will the offensive line be able to protect better this year? The Panthers ended the season as the 31st ranked offensive line. With players like Cam Irving, and Pat Efflein joining the team from the Cowboys and Jets, and the return of John Miller, Matt Paradis, and Taylor Morton I expect the line will be much improved. This will allow Robby Anderson and DJ Moore much more time to get down the field. It also helps that Run CMC is back on the field giving defensive coordinators much more to think about.
Scheme
Offense: Spread Concept, Deep Passing, Hi-Low Concepts with crossing routes
Defense: 4-3 Base, Conservative, Low Blitz Rate
Stoweby’s 2021 NFL Fantasy Preview: Carolina Panthers
Fantasy Targets:
Sam Darnold: ADP 180.1
This is the biggest question mark on the Panthers team this season. How much of Sam Darnold’s issues were on him and how much of it was caused by Adam Gase’s ineptitude? I am leaning towards Gase after seeing how players like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Tannehill, and Kenyan Drake performed after leaving. If CMC stays healthy and the line improves even to mediocrity at a 17th round ADP Darnold is a near end of draft QB that I could see finishing as high as QB 14-15 with burners like Robby Anderson an DJ Moore on the outside.
Christian McCaffrey: ADP: 1.3
If he is available you take him. Simple as that. He is my 1-1.
DJ Moore: ADP 50.9
Moore is the first of the pair of wide receivers left to target for the Panthers and you can pretty much copy and paste my thoughts with him and Robby Anderson below. Moore had almost 1,200 yard on 66 grabs with a quarterback who was 28th in the NFL with 7.1 air yards per attempt, the 31st ranked O-Line in the league, no McCaffrey to make the opposing defense think, and Curtis Samuel taking away targets. I would prefer his ADP to be a touch lower but if you are sitting at the turn in the 5th round and he is still available I can not imagine what his upside could be with someone who can throw it deep.
Robby Anderson: 80.4
Robby caught 95 passes for almost 1,100 yards with a QB who threw almost all of his passes at the line of scrimmage as the teams number two receiver. I already mentioned above the litany of issues on the offensive side of the ball that dampened the production for both him and Moore. I personally like Anderson’s ADP much better. I think his upside is just a touch lower than Moore, but I am splitting hairs in that regard (maybe 100 yards and a td or two) and you can get him as your wide receiver three or four depending on how early you have a tendency to draft tight-end. In a 17 game season in a competent offense I wouldn’t be shocked if Anderson ended a healthy 2021 campaign with 1300-1400 yards and well over 100 grabs.
Stoweby’s 2021 NFL Post Draft Fantasy Breakdown: Carolina Panthers
Final Thoughts:
I truly think Carolina will be a much better football team this year even if the win-loss record doesn’t show it. The Saints are still a really strong team without Brees and they have to plays the Bucs and their top defensive unit twice and having the Patriots, Washington, and Dolphins on the schedule is not doing them any favors. Joe Brady is a very innovative offensive coordinator and the tendency that players have to excel away from Adam Gase is pushing me towards a sense of optimism for Sam Darnold and the Carolina panthers as a whole.
Hope you enjoyed my first of many Stoweby’s 2021 NFL Fantasy Preview: Carolina Panthers. Hopefully, you have learned something that you can make use of in your Dynasty, Best Ball, and Seasonal Drafts, and got the juices flowing a bit to help you take down a big one in week one when the time comes. I look forward to creating more content covering all 32 NFL teams. Any questions about the article, I will be available in the WinDaily Discord chat. Don’t forget to subscribe to the WinDaily Youtube channel and follow me @stoweby and @WinDailySports on Twitter to stay current and up to date on all of our fresh new content!
