A day after kicker Joey Slye was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the NFL has announced two more awards for Panthers’ players – one on each side of the ball.
Christian McCaffrey has been named NFC Offensive Player of the Month after leading the league in both yards from scrimmage and rushing yards through the first quarter of the season – the Panthers’ dual-threat running back has racked up a league-best 411 rushing yards along with 218 receiving yards on 25 receptions and four total touchdowns.
Last week, he became the second player in NFL history – the first since Jim Brown – to open the season with three games of at least 175 scrimmage yards and a score in their team’s first four games of a season. The list of accolades goes on and on – McCaffrey is third among running backs in receiving yards and leads all NFL rushers with his 25 receptions.
The franchise leader in receiving yards by a running back is on pace for over 2,500 total yards and has played on every offensive snap but four through four games this season.
Unbelievably, it has taken until McCaffrey’s third season in the league to earn his first weekly or monthly NFC award of his career – a Panthers rookie on the other side of the ball didn’t have to wait that long as Brian Burns was also named NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.
Burns has racked up 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks and nine quarterback pressures, the most among first-year players – the Panthers first-round pick has also contributed on special teams, blocking two punts in only four games.
The Florida State product has also been named Pro Football Focus‘ Defensive Rookie of the Month, earning a grade of 78.4 through four weeks, the best among the 33 rookies with at least 100 defensive snaps.
Both players will face off with the Jacksonville Jaguars at 1p on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
