The Panthers have been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. Speculation about a Greg Olsen holdout, and the firing of GM Dave Gettleman (he was replaced by the failed GM he himself replaced, Marty Hurney).
But the on-the-field product should be intriguing. There will be a lot of new faces on offense, including top pick Christian McCaffrey and second-rounder Curtis Samuel. Devin Funchess, now in his third season, has opportunity to step up with Ted Ginn Jr. gone to New Orleans.
Samuel is intriguing to me because he's similar in many ways to McCaffrey. Both are hybrid runner-pass catcher types. He'll work as a slot receiver for Carolina, while McCaffrey's main position is running back. But Jonathan Stewart should remain the starter, making McCaffrey likely to be overdrafted in most fantasy leagues. I know the argument is "they wouldn't have drafted McCaffrey at No. 8 overall not to use him heavily." But we'll see. I think he might more valuable to Carolina's offense than to fantasy starting lineups.
Samuel and Funchess are interesting because there seem to be a lot of targets to divvy up behind Kelvin Benjamin. Ted Ginn (54 receptions last year) and Philly Brown (27) are gone. Carolina added Russell Shepard, who did some good things in Tampa Bay, and Charles Johnson (a flop with Minnesota last season), but they'd no doubt like to get Funchess going. Plus those free agents were signed by a GM who's no longer around.
Samuel played the Percy Harvin role in Urban Meyer's offense at Ohio State last year. I drafted him in dynasty and expect I'll select him in the final rounds of a lot of fantasy drafts this year. As an unknown, there's less distaste selecting him than Funchess (who's done nothing the last two years).
But who knows. Some pass catchers are going to have to step up, so maybe Funchess will surprise in his third season. There are worse last-round fliers. I'm going with Samuel. I will let someone else spend the much higher pick required on McCaffrey.
--Andy Richardson