Ground and Pound. Thunder and Lightning. Double Trouble. The Panthers were expected to add the second half of whatever nickname you’d like to use in the NFL Draft last weekend to compliment second-year runner Christian McCaffrey, but when the Panthers left Dallas with undrafted free agent Reggie Bonnafon as their only running back addition, many questioned the planning of Marty Hurney and the front office – it turns out that they were just waiting to bring in exactly the right fit.
The Panthers signed 27-year old CJ Anderson on Monday to a one-year contract after the veteran runner, who had his best season as a pro in 2017 when he rushed for 1,007 yards on over four yards per carry, was cut by the Denver Broncos – the former undrafted free agent is expected to take on the ‘thunder’ portion of the ‘thunder & lightning’ in the Panthers backfield, as the 5’8, 224 pound rusher gives the Panthers a more powerful option to replace the Panthers’ all-time leading rusher Jonathan Stewart, who was released in a cost-cutting move earlier this offseason. Financial terms of the one-year deal have not been disclosed.
Hurney said that the team had their eye on Anderson before the draft.
“As far as ‘ground & pound’, the keep pounding slogan that Carolina likes to use, but the ground & pound I think fits well,” Anderson said today via phone interview. “My strength in the game is of course breaking tackles and finding ways to use that and make longer runs and bigger plays. Also catching the ball out of the backfield too, but having a guy like McCaffrey, who’s super shifty and can also do some of the same things, it can be [very] complementary with each other. Me and him will learn each other; him going into his second year and me going into my sixth, we can definitely feed off of each other in a lot of ways.”
“Knowing your game well and what defensive coordinators are trying to do to you and how they’re trying to stop your strengths, I’ve got a lot of homework to do myself when it comes to watching last year’s offense, I know it will be different because coach [Mike] Shula’s not here [anymore], but I know watching Christian McCaffrey one-on-one and seeing how he processed teams, you never want to completely change anything, but I can give him little tweaks here and little tweaks there just to enhance his game that much more so that we can be a better football team.”
While Carolina had the third-best time of possession and fourth-highest rush yards per game figure in the NFL last season, much of that was buoyed by the 139 carries and 754 yards on the ground (both career highs) of quarterback Cam Newton as short-yardage stalwart Stewart had his worst statistical season since 2013, Anderson realizes that in the NFC South, as the offenses keep getting stronger, the best defense may be keeping the other gunslingers on the sideline.
“When you look at this division: a Matt Ryan or a Drew Brees, you try to do everything you can to try to keep them off the field,” Anderson said – the Panthers lost three times to the Saints last season and averaged less than 30 minutes time of possession in those games. “In a sixty-minute ballgame, if we can hold the ball for thirty-five minutes or maybe more, that doesn’t do [anything] but keep the defense fresh.”
The former Cal running back brings the short-yardage and closer mentality that the Panthers need – Anderson has only fumbled four times in his five-season career and converted more than 60% of runs where he needed less than three yards for a score – in fact, he hasn’t averaged less than four yards per carry in any season of his career. After the Panthers spent each year since 2011 giving those carries to Stewart and Newton, there may be a new hammer in offensive coordinator Norv Turners toolbox.
While the Panthers needed to add another running back to either compete with or upgrade from Cameron Artis-Payne, Anderson may not be the bellcow in the backfield – Stewart only saw 37.8% of the snaps last season while McCaffrey was on the field for almost 70%; Stewart averaged the fewest carries per game since 2013, when he missed 10 games to injury – Anderson was on the field for 54.84% of the Broncos snaps last season and averaged over 15 carries per game.
Because Anderson was released in April in a cost-cutting move by the Broncos, he will not count against the Panthers compensatory draft picks; the Panthers are due to earn a third-rounder for the amount of free agents they lost this offseason. While Anderson had interest from multiple teams, the decision to come to Carolina was easy, as Anderson said that he wanted to come to a “championship-caliber” team, saying that a situation like Carolina was the best fit – Anderson should know, he’s been to two Super Bowls in his career, losing to Seattle in his rookie season, and playing a large role in the Broncos beating the Panthers in 2015, accounting for 100 yards and a score in Super Bowl 50.
“At the end of the day, what you want to do best is to try to play for championships. I’m here to try to present that opportunity and try to do that.”
