QB Cam Newton (Carolina)

In 3 years in the league, Newton has completed 59.8% for an average of 7.66 YPA, 64 touchdowns, and 42 interceptions, while rushing for 2032 yards and 28 touchdowns on 364 attempts, an average of 5.58 YPC. He’s gotten slightly better in quarterback rating in each of the three seasons he’s been in the league. He could easily have his worst statistical year this season though. The Panthers lost their best two offensive lineman and every wide receiver who caught a pass for them last season. They didn’t add a ton of talent to replace those guys and Newton missed most of the off-season with an ankle problem. That ankle problem might not hurt them on the field this season, but missing all that practice time could hurt his chemistry with his new supporting cast, especially early in the season. He’s a low end QB1 because of his running ability.

3250 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 620 rushing yards, 7 rushing touchdowns (292 pts standard)

RB DeAngelo Williams (Carolina)

DeAngelo Williams will probably be the lead back again. Williams has had an impressive career, averaging 4.84 yards per carry over 1370 career carries. However, he’s now going into his age 31 season and has averaged just 4.22 yards per carry over those 2 seasons combined. He’s clearly declining and could decline even more this season. He’s also only gone over 200 carries 3 times in 8 seasons (including last season) and doesn’t offer much in the passing game, with 173 catches in 111 career games, including just 39 over the past 2 seasons combined.

180 carries for 720 yards, 5 total touchdowns, 22 catches for 180 yards (120 pts standard)

RB Jonathan Stewart (Carolina)

Williams has had some issues with injuries in his career, but Jonathan Stewart has had even bigger problems with injuries. He only missed 2 games in his first 4 seasons combined, but he was consistently playing through injuries and it appears to have caught up with him over the past 2 seasons, as he’s missed a combined 17 games and carried the ball just a combined 141 times over those past 2 seasons. He’s also been limited to 3.66 yards per carry over the past 2 seasons. He’s a talented player when healthy, averaging 4.64 yards per carry for his career, despite his struggles over the last 2 seasons, but he’s rarely healthy. He’s also only gone over 200 carries in a season once in 6 years in the league and he’s only caught 105 passes in 77 games.

120 carries for 490 yards, 3 total touchdowns, 15 catches for 100 yards (77 pts standard)

RB Mike Tolbert (Carolina)

The Panthers’ best back might be fullback Mike Tolbert, who led Panther backs with 606 snaps played last season. He only averaged 3.57 yards per carry (361 rushing yards on 101 carries), but that’s partially because he was doing a lot of the dirty work and short yardage running. He picked up 2.02 yards per carry after contact and 31 first downs on 101 carries. He also was their best pass catching running back, catching 27 passes (which led Panther running backs) for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns.

90 carries for 360 yards, 5 total touchdowns, 25 catches for 200 yards (86 pts standard)

WR Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina)

Kelvin Benjamin could be forced into the #1 wide receiver role. Benjamin certainly has talent, but he’s very raw, as he only played two seasons of college football and only had one season where he had meaningful production. Rookie wide receivers tend to struggle anyway, even first round talents.  Since 2005, 31 receivers have gone in the 1st round. They’ve averaged 41 catches for 558 yards and 3 touchdowns per season. Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson were top-3 picks and they had 58/780/8 and 48/756/4 respectively as rookies.

Benjamin is rawer than most wide receivers drafted in the first round and was a very late first round pick. He could exceed those averages in terms of pure numbers because of the size of his role and the caliber of quarterback he has throwing to him, but he probably won’t play well or be that efficient. He showed himself to be incredibly athletic and physical both in college and at the combine (6-5 240 4.61 40), but he’s purely a deep threat at this point in his football career.

42 catches for 700 yards and 6 touchdowns (106 pts standard)

WR Jerricho Cotchery (Carolina)

Cotchery was a very good wide receiver with the Jets from 2007-2009, grading out above average in all 3 seasons, catching a combined 210 passes for 2809 yards and 10 touchdowns. However, he struggled mightily in 2010, catching 41 passes for 433 yards and 2 touchdowns. He ended up in Pittsburgh, where he played just a combined 553 snaps in 2011-2012. However, in 2013, he got a bigger role and caught 46 passes on 74 attempts (62.2%) for 607 yards and 10 touchdowns on 440 routes run, an average of 1.38 yards per route run. He’ll be starter in Carolina, but only out of necessity. Going into his age 32 season, he’s a low upside pick at the end of fantasy drafts.

50 catches for 650 yards and 5 touchdowns (95 pts standard)

TE Greg Olsen (Carolina)

Last season, Olsen caught 73 passes on 102 attempts (71.6%) for 816 yards and 6 touchdowns on 482 routes run, an average of 1.69 yards per route run. He lead them in receptions, yards, and touchdowns last season and will almost definitely do so again this season with Steve Smith, Brandon LaFell, Ted Ginn and company all gone. He could easily surpass last season’s production. He’s an underrated fantasy asset at a weak tight end position.

78 catches for 900 yards and 8 touchdowns (138 pts standard)

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