The Panthers signed C.J. Anderson yesterday, a marriage that looked like a good fit ever since the Broncos released him. Carolina lost Jonathan Stewart and didn't add anyone in the draft, while Anderson is a capable back who was released by Denver for reasons that aren't entirely apparent; the team wanted to go with younger options with more upside, perhaps.
It's a splash of cool water to those who expected Christian McCaffrey to play full-time in Carolina, although such hopes were never realistic. In fact, Anderson might be more of a hit to McCaffery's fantasy value than Stewart would have been.
Over the last three seasons (among backs who have played all three of those years), there are 64 who have caught at least 20 passes. Stewart comes in way down at the bottom of those backs; he's caught 32 passes in those three seasons. Anderson brings much more to the passing game, catching more than twice as many (69).
(In the table I left out players who didn't play in all three of those seasons, so no Alvin Kamara.)
| RUNNING BACK RECEPTIONS, 2015-2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | '15 | '16 | '17 | Tot |
| Duke Johnson, Clev. | 61 | 53 | 74 | 188 |
| Theo Riddick, Det. | 80 | 53 | 53 | 186 |
| LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 24 | 75 | 85 | 184 |
| Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 73 | 54 | 36 | 163 |
| James White, N.E. | 40 | 60 | 56 | 156 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 50 | 46 | 58 | 154 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 32 | 50 | 59 | 141 |
| DeMarco Murray, Tenn. | 44 | 53 | 39 | 136 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 33 | 41 | 58 | 132 |
| Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 49 | 39 | 43 | 131 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 47 | 58 | 23 | 128 |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 21 | 43 | 64 | 128 |
| Chris Thompson, Wash. | 35 | 49 | 39 | 123 |
| David Johnson, Ariz. | 36 | 80 | 6 | 122 |
| Danny Woodhead, Balt. | 80 | 6 | 33 | 119 |
| T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 36 | 50 | 30 | 116 |
| Jerick McKinnon, Minn. | 21 | 43 | 51 | 115 |
| Shane Vereen, NYG | 59 | 11 | 44 | 114 |
| Darren Sproles, Phil. | 55 | 52 | 7 | 114 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 47 | 31 | 36 | 114 |
| Matt Forte, NYJ | 44 | 30 | 37 | 111 |
| Kyle Juszczyk, S.F. | 41 | 37 | 33 | 111 |
| Charles Sims, T.B. | 51 | 24 | 35 | 110 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 34 | 38 | 29 | 101 |
| Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 11 | 27 | 59 | 97 |
| Javorius Allen, Balt. | 45 | 3 | 46 | 94 |
| Latavius Murray, Minn. | 41 | 33 | 15 | 89 |
| Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 19 | 40 | 28 | 87 |
| Dion Lewis, N.E. | 36 | 17 | 32 | 85 |
| Ty Montgomery, G.B. | 15 | 44 | 23 | 82 |
| Charcandrick West, K.C. | 20 | 28 | 27 | 75 |
| Travaris Cadet, NYJ-Buff. | 17 | 40 | 16 | 73 |
| Chris Ivory, Jac. | 30 | 20 | 21 | 71 |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 25 | 16 | 28 | 69 |
| Andre Ellington, Ariz.-Hou. | 15 | 12 | 39 | 66 |
| Damien Williams, Mia. | 21 | 23 | 20 | 64 |
| Benny Cunningham, Chi. | 26 | 16 | 20 | 62 |
| Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 2 | 31 | 27 | 60 |
| Jay Ajayi, Mia.-Phil. | 7 | 27 | 24 | 58 |
| Rex Burkhead, N.E. | 10 | 17 | 30 | 57 |
| Doug Martin, T.B. | 33 | 14 | 9 | 56 |
| Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 25 | 5 | 25 | 55 |
| Jamaal Charles, Den. | 21 | 2 | 23 | 46 |
| Adrian Peterson, N.O.-Ariz. | 30 | 3 | 11 | 44 |
| Robert Turbin, Ind. | 7 | 26 | 9 | 42 |
| Mike Tolbert, Buff. | 18 | 10 | 14 | 42 |
| Jeremy Hill, Cin. | 15 | 21 | 4 | 40 |
| C.J. Spiller, K.C. | 34 | 6 | 0 | 40 |
| Terrance West, Balt. | 4 | 34 | 2 | 40 |
| Lance Dunbar, LAR | 21 | 16 | 1 | 38 |
| Alfred Blue, Hou. | 15 | 12 | 7 | 34 |
| Jonathan Stewart, Car. | 16 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| Thomas Rawls, Sea. | 9 | 13 | 9 | 31 |
| Eddie Lacy, Sea. | 20 | 4 | 6 | 30 |
| Bobby Rainey, Balt. | 3 | 20 | 5 | 28 |
| Patrick DiMarco, Buff. | 13 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Jamize Olawale, Oak. | 9 | 12 | 6 | 27 |
| Mike Davis, Sea. | 7 | 3 | 15 | 25 |
| Orleans Darkwa, NYG | 3 | 2 | 19 | 24 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers, T.B. | 1 | 13 | 9 | 23 |
| Brandon Bolden, N.E. | 19 | 2 | 1 | 22 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Phil. | 6 | 7 | 8 | 21 |
| Rod Smith, Dall. | 1 | 1 | 19 | 21 |
| Alfred Morris, Dall. | 10 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
So Anderson is a more capable receiver than Stewart, and reasonable to think he'll take a little more of that production away from McCaffrey than Stewart would have.
Anderson himself, meanwhile, is going to a fairly nice spot for running backs, at least in terms of scoring. We tend to think Cam Newton will hog all the rushing scores in Carolina, but in fact Stewart scored 21 rushing TDs the last three seasons. Only eight running backs scored more over that span.
| RUNNING BACK RUSHING TDS, 2015-2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | '15 | '16 | '17 | Tot |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 10 | 6 | 13 | 29 |
| Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 11 | 11 | 7 | 29 |
| Latavius Murray, Minn. | 6 | 12 | 8 | 26 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Phil. | 6 | 18 | 2 | 26 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 6 | 6 | 12 | 24 |
| David Johnson, Ariz. | 8 | 16 | 0 | 24 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 0 | 15 | 7 | 22 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 3 | 13 | 6 | 22 |
| Jonathan Stewart, Car. | 6 | 9 | 6 | 21 |
| DeMarco Murray, Tenn. | 6 | 9 | 6 | 21 |
| Jeremy Hill, Cin. | 11 | 9 | 0 | 20 |
| LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 3 | 7 | 9 | 19 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 0 | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17 |
| Mike Gillislee, N.E. | 3 | 8 | 5 | 16 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 0 | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| DeAngelo Williams, Pitt. | 11 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 1 | 8 | 5 | 14 |
| Ryan Mathews, Phil. | 6 | 8 | 0 | 14 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| Adrian Peterson, 2 tm | 11 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| Matt Forte, NYJ | 4 | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 4 | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| Doug Martin, T.B. | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
| Chris Ivory, Jac. | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Marshawn Lynch, Oak. | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Derrick Henry, Tenn. | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Jay Ajayi, 2 tm | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Jeremy Langford, Chi. | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
Table shows the 31 running backs who have scored at least 10 rushing touchdowns over the past three seasons. Anderson shows up near the bottom of the list, but he should have a few more chances in Carolina.
--Andy Richardson