I’ve read your Twitter replies and Facebook comments – yes, I know.
The Panthers signed – and subsequently released running back CJ Anderson ahead of Week 11 last season – and Anderson went on to have a brief stint with the Raiders before signing with the Rams and playing a key role in their playoff run to the Super Bowl; his 46 rushes in the playoffs with Los Angeles almost doubled the 24 he had through the first 10 weeks of the season.
So when Ron Rivera said towards the end of the 2018 season and doubled down in the past few months that the Panthers had to find a way to lighten the workload of Christian McCaffrey – who touched the ball 326 times and was on the field the most of any running back in the NFL – second nature was a snarky response via social media that they already had a ready-made ‘workload lightener’ on the roster and shipped him to LA via Jon Gruden.
And Ron Rivera seemed as if he might have heard the criticisms, because when asked what he thought of Anderson’s play in Los Angeles, he curtly responded before turning back the focus to what McCaffrey did in Carolina – the “emergence” of the second-year running back is what prompted Anderson’s release in the first place.
“He had some good games,” Rivera said about Anderson before pivoting to McCaffrey. “[I’m] very pleased with what we got from Christian, almost having over 2,000 total yards of offense was great for us. I thought Christian ran the ball well inside, thought he caught the ball well out of the backfield.”
And when the Panthers look to lighten his workload, instead of a ‘bowling ball’ type back to provide a thunder-and-lightning or smash-and-dash duo, they’re on the hunt for a back with traits similar to their bellcow running back – which makes sense when you look at the running backs who were on the roster at the end of the season; Travaris Cadet and Kenjon Barner both had similar styles to McCaffrey.
More like dash-and-dash or lightning-and-lightning.
While Rivera doesn’t want to limit the team’s board to a specific type, with so much of the offense designed around McCaffrey’s ability to both carry the ball and catch it out of the backfield, a similar backup who can transition seamlessly seems logical.
“Understanding what Christian did last year, how many reps he played, that’s something we do have to be concerned with,” said Rivera Thursday. “Him touching the ball was no concern. It was just the extra plays. So we have to look at that and find a way to take that load from him.”
“I think Christian shows you that he can carry the load no matter where he is, no matter where we run him – inside or outside, we run him out of the backfield as a receiver, that type of stuff. So really, it would be a guy who has, I would say, an almost similar type of skill set, that’s probably what we are looking for.”
Bryce Love answering questions at the combine.
Whether they find that through the draft with a player like Bryce Love, Darrell Henderson or Jalin Moore – all expected to be available in the mid-to-late rounds – or in free agency with players like Latavius Murray or Shane Vereen, the Panthers need to find a way to get McCaffrey off the field and they know it.
McCaffrey’s 91.3% of the snap count was the highest since Matt Forte’s 92.1% in 2014. After playing that much, Forte went on to miss three games in 2015 and his 1,846 total yardage fell to only 1,287 – impressive to be sure, but the lowest total of his career to date.
With Barner, Cadet and Cameron Artis-Payne set to hit free agency and McCaffrey, former seventh round pick Elijah Hood and undrafted free agent Reggie Bonnafon the only rushers currently on the roster, the Panthers certainly need to find some help – where that help will come from remains to be seen.
Seems like rivera knows we need a power back to compliment McCaffrey, but after catching shit for dropping anderson he says he wants to compliment McCaffrey with someone with the same style. We need a power back atleast for the goal line. Instead of saying he was wrong hes gonna run with the idea of having 2 scat backs to save face.