The fantasy impacts of super Cam Newton not being so super

The fantasy impacts of super Cam Newton not being so super

The first two weeks of the 2019 regular season have been rough, to say the least for Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in general. The team has dropped their first two games of the season and their offense currently ranks in the bottom half of the league in points scored (20th) and total yards (19th).

Questions were being raised throughout the entire offseason about Cam Newton’s shoulder and how it would affect his passing heading into the season. While some dismissed these speculations, they were wrong to do so as Newton has not looked like himself at all in the early goings of 2019.

Newton’s passing yards per game through the first two weeks of 2019 land squarely at 22nd averaging 239.0. As a result, no only is his fantasy value plummeting, but also his teammates’ production around him as well.

Cam’s poor performance under the prime-time lights in Carolina put a damper on fantasy production for guys like Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and Curtis Samuel.

Let’s first focus on the two top receivers in Carolina’s offense. As previously mentioned, D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel struggled to have extremely productive fantasy performances this past Thursday evening. As a result, it may be leaving some fantasy managers worrying heading into Sunday’s slate of games.

From a football standpoint, both Moore and Samuel were efficient as they combined for 14 catches and 180 yards with no scores to speak of. In terms of fantasy though, it was rather a “safe” performance for the two wideouts. What I mean is, it wasn’t anything special, and it wasn’t anything deplorable either. It was good enough to be helpful in your starting lineup, but nothing that dominates.

Moore finished the night off with 16.9 fantasy points and Samuel tallied up 14.1. This accounts for full-point PPR scoring formats, but it’s all relative. Their scoring was mediocre for this week and that could present some problems further on down the road in your fantasy season.

If you are someone who has either Moore or Samuel on your roster then I could imagine it must be frustrating seeing Newton struggle to hit these guys on passes down the field. Granted, if the rest of your fantasy squad puts up respectable numbers each and every week, then these issues you are experiencing are only minor. On the other hand, if Moore or Samuel is one of your top playmakers on your team, this problem gets magnified tenfold.

Not only is Newton’s struggles affecting his receiving corps this year, but they are also affecting his top running back as well in Christian McCaffrey. Run CMC was fine in Week 1 against the Rams as he rushed the ball 19 times for 128 yards and a couple of scores. He also piled on with another 10 catches for 81 yards, capping off an awesome fantasy day of almost 43 points in full PPR.

Cam was still having a tough afternoon, but McCaffrey wasn’t affected by it. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long as McCaffrey fell victim to Newton’s struggles just four days later when the Buccaneers came to town. In Week 2 against Tampa Bay, McCaffrey was terribly inefficient averaging just 2.3 yards on the ground and a meager two grabs for 16 yards through the air.

It was like a tale of two games for McCaffrey. A Jekyll and Hyde performance if you will, between Week’s 1 and 2. We can attribute this to Newton’s poor throwing during this span. The Buccaneers noticed how bad Newton has been and they made it a priority to key in on McCaffrey. As long as they could shut him down, taking care of Cam would not be a problem which proved to be correct.

With the threat of Newton’s arm having been neutralized as of late, it will give McCaffrey a harder time to find ways to put dents into defenses. He’ll have no room to breathe and fail to capitalize on any errors defenders will make while trying to juggle guarding against the pass and run.

The Panthers’ offense has looked flat and one-dimensional for the first two games of the 2019 regular season. If they are to turn it around, Newton has to improve and fast. Who knows? Maybe his throwing shoulder is still bothering him even though he claims it’s fine. That remains a mystery to us, but it wouldn’t come as much of a shock if the news did break out that he’s not 100% feeling like himself.

If you are someone who has Newton or any of the players on the Panthers’ offense mentioned above, then it can be quite a headache for you.

For the people who have Newton, keep him on your bench and plug in your backup quarterback. Until Cam can prove he’s super once again, I stay as far away from starting him as possible.

For the folks who have either Moore or Samuel, then start them as Flex options. Scoring in the low-teens in fantasy points isn’t terrible for a Flex, so it’s not detrimental for you. Even if they are your WR2, you can potentially get away with it as long as the rest of your team is strong. If not, then I suggest being highly active on the waiver wire to find a stronger replacement.

As for the owner’s of Christian McCaffrey, I’d say stick it out. He did produce in big proportions in Week 1 so there is hope. He’s an elite runner and will eventually find a way to break through soon. If by the off-chance he continues to struggle for several more weeks, then you could consider posing a trade but I highly doubt it’ll get that far. While McCaffrey was dreadful against the Buccaneers, I don’t expect that to be the case every week.

The Panthers are in some serious trouble during the early-goings of this young season. In order for them to dig themselves out of this hole, they’re going to need their leader Cam Newton to step it up. Time is of the essence and they could be in a potential make-or-break situation heading into Week 3 when Carolina travels to the desert to take on Kyler Murray and the Cardinals next week.

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