Running Back
Christian McCaffrey is good – really, really good – but giving any running back 219 carries on top of 124 targets is completely unsustainable. That doesn’t mean that he can’t be one of the foundational pieces of the Panthers’ offense going forward, but that the Panthers need to get him some help and take some of the weight off his shoulders.
There are several options for doing this – over a range of costs – but the Panthers will need to get involved in the running back market at some point, whether in free agency or during the draft. What is more, they need to put far more effort into getting those other options involved in 2019 than they did in 2018. Despite averaging 4.3 yards per carry, CJ Anderson got just 22 carries in nine games with the Panthers despite coming off a 1,000 yard season with the Broncos. Given that he managed 299 yards on 43 carries in two games with the Rams to end the season, it is hard to put the blame on anybody but the Panthers’ coaching staff, a mistake they cannot afford to repeat.
With Christian McCaffrey the only running back of the four currently on the roster under contract in 2019, the Panthers do have a lot of flexibility at the running back position, and how they look to add talent around McCaffrey should take into account the combination of skillsets as well as the sum of the talent. Cameron Artis-Payne isn’t a bad running back, but he simply doesn’t offer much of a different skill set from McCaffrey. Ideally, the Panthers would find a downhill inside runner who can offer value in the red zone.
This is a very deep running back free agent class, and the Panthers would be wise to wait for the market to settle down rather than going in at the deep end from day one. Options like Alfred Morris and Doug Martin might not be hugely enticing, but for limited cost, they would allow the Panthers to take some pressure off of McCaffrey – allowing for less chance of injury, a more varied rushing attack and insurance if McCaffrey does get hurt.
The Panthers could also look to add a running back in the draft – something that would not be ruled out if they signed a low-cost free agent – while this would be something of a shock at 16, if they feel there is somebody who could offer another elite runner on the second day of the draft then that could be a genuinely realistic option as early as the second round.
The Panthers’ running game was one of the best in the NFL in 2018 – the best in terms of yards per carry, but given that the running game died away as the season went on, the need to add depth and variety to this aspect of the offense in 2019 should not be ignored.
Up Next: Yes. The Quarterback.
