With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.Meet the ...
Home of Smash and Dash. Why is that important? Because that's the nickname of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, one of the most prolific running back combinations in the NFL last year. Oh, yes, and in case you didn't see the Jake Delhomme Meltdown Party against the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs last year, the running game is mildly important to the Panthers success.
The Breakout
Yikes. See, the Panthers are, in fantasy, very much what they are in real life ... pretty easy to read. In other words, you have your studs: DeAngelo and Steve Smith. And then you have, well, not a ton of things to like about the team, at least in terms of upside. So I'm going to roll with my boy J-Stew here. Not only do I own his jersey (and obvious sign of awesomeness) but last year, Stewart was recovering from turf toe issues that surfaced in his senior year and hung around throughout the offseason.
That means he'll see more touches than a lot of people would expect and the nice thing is that you don't have to spend a ton to get him -- we've got him ranked 27th overall in terms of running backs, and it's the same most places because of Williams' monster year in 2008. And if -- God forbid -- Williams goes down, Stewart will be a monster. He's still going to see plenty of goal line action and when you're talking about a bench RB or a flex play in deeper leagues, you're talking about a lot of upside.
The Bust
It hurts me to say it -- as a fan anyway -- but, um, Steve Smith. Yes, one of my favorite NFL players of all-time will be your Carolina Panthers bust this year. Why? Well, for starters: Delhomme. That's obvious, right? What's not obvious is Smith's standing amongst the elite receivers; because the Panthers do design plays built for his speed, he still managed to top 1,400 yards last year. But he wouldn't have done that were it not for a ridiculous yards per catch average, because he "only" caught 78 balls. What does this mean? Well, if you take a look at the Panthers' play-calling progression last year, you'll see that as the season wore on, there was a very heavy emphasis on the run. In 2009, there won't any sort of delay as Smash and Dash will take hold immediately. The result of that will be an inconsistent and disappointing season for Smith, at least relative to where you draft him.
The Depth Chart
QB1 -- Jake Delhomme
QB2 -- Matt Moore
RB1 -- DeAngelo Williams
RB2 -- Jonathan Stewart
WR1 -- Steve Smith
WR2 -- Mushin Muhammad
WR3 -- Dwayne Jarrett
WR4 -- Kenny Moore
TE1 -- Jeff King
TE2 -- Dante Rosario
K -- John Kasay
The DS/T
Now, here's where things get kind of spicy. (And I would have listed them as the sleeper, but really, can you have a DS/T "sleeper"? I think not.) Jon Beason mans the middle, Thomas Davis is sneaky awesome and Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall serve as very nice corners; Ken Lucas is gone for salary reasons but the drop won't be much. No offense, Ken. But I think the key is this: Julius Peppers. Obvious, right? Well, here's why -- he's due for a legitimate free-agency run after this year after the 'Cats franchised him. Which means if he wrecks havoc and makes the Pro Bowl and the Panthers go on a run and he does something silly like win the DPOY, well, he is gonna get straight paid, son. Which makes me think he's in for a big year. I could be wrong -- I'm not often -- but I don't think I am.
The Skinny
Look, I love the Panthers. I'm not afraid to say it. But this year, there will not be a ton of superb value coming out of Charlotte for fantasy players. That's just the facts. Steve Smith: awesome, but see above. DeAngelo Williams? Also awesome, but he's a first-rounder in every league. On the other hand, if he falls out of the top five or six picks, you're getting great value, so obvs snatch him up there.
• Jake Delhomme is nothing more than a backup -- at best -- QB under the hopes that two years removed from TJ surgery he'll be revived and lead the Panthers to glory via the aerial game. I think it's a possibility, but not a really good one, especially considering how much they'll rely on the running game.
• The defense is solid as hell, but it's not elite, which means that you can grab them later if you're someone who likes to wait on picking a defense -- considering there's not a ton of defensive line depth, I'm pretty hesitant to say that anyone should mortgage any sort of value pick to get them.
• Stewart, as I've noted above, seems like a very nice value play and Donte Rosario is actually a nice late-round, sleeper-style TE2 to target given his progression last season. Muhammad and Jarrett could have a little upside in really deep leagues, simply because they'll see the field on plenty of snaps, but the reality is that you can't expect much from them in terms of week-to-week production.
Which, honestly, outside of the running game, might be a pretty good way to sum up the 2009 Carolina Panthers, at least from a fantasy perspective.
