Carolina Panthers: Rationale for Return

The fantasy guys are running away from Cam Newton in like the first three rounds of the draft. They are talking about regression models and stuff. Okay, the Panthers’ offensive model did not change this off season. The offense will go only as far as Newton takes it.

We know this to be true because there are no signs that Jonathan Stewart is going to run for 1500 yards this year. He was comparatively healthy last year and did not reach a thousand. Nor did the Panthers bringing in a back to run for 700 more. They could do that, but it is unlikely at this phase of the game.

This means that we have entered Cam Newton’s Tom Brady period where Cam is supposed to just rinse repeat and make it work. The nice thing about this is that the Panthers appear to have a productive and growing receiving corps around Newton. Kelvin Benjamin will move into a starter position, Ted Ginn or Corey Brown will have a reduced role. Devin Funchess has shown some spark.

That is before even noting Greg Olsen, who will likely have another thousand yard season if healthy. Coverages won’t be able to key on him as much anymore with the other weapons healthy.

Newton is in his prime or close to it now. The fantasy guys might be right, statistically he might take a step back. Think of those read option plays that could just turn into running plays. Yet Newton doesn’t need to dominate statistics to dominate a game, that is what the defense is for.

Next: Defense