Carolina Panthers: It’s time to name Christian McCaffrey captain
The Carolina Panthers would be wise to put him in the captain’s role in 2019.
The Carolina Panthers will have to find some new captains in 2019. Three of the six captains that were given that distinction in 2018 are no longer with the team. With Ryan Kalil and Julius Peppers retiring and Thomas Davis not getting signed, Carolina definitely has a couple holes to fill with that distinction.
Christian McCaffrey would be the perfect candidate to fill one of those spots. Heading into his third year, he looks to try and top what was a very successful 2018 season. Oftentimes for players, a second year means a slump. Teams have begun to figure them out and players have to adjust. If anything, McCaffrey reinvented himself. He was mostly used as a true running back in 2017. Under new offensive coordinator Norv Turner, he was a huge part of the passing game.
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On top of it, he was very durable. He started in all 16 games and carried the ball 219 times for 1098 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He was equally as effective catching the ball. He managed to snag 107 receptions out of 124 targets for 867 yards and six touchdowns. He truly showed that he could be a dual-threat player and that was certainly helpful to the Panthers. Oftentimes when the offense struggled, McCaffrey would be there to pick up the pieces and try his best to keep them in games.
This would be the perfect opportunity to promote McCaffrey to the role of captain. He is in his third year and has had two full seasons of experience in the National Football League. From everything you read about him and all his press interviews, he seems to conduct himself very well. That is certainly important in the role of captain. The Panthers, aside from Cam Newton, do not have a player that can take over a game quite like McCaffrey. He is a leader for this team in every sense of the word and naming him captain would only make sense.
As David Newton of ESPN.com notes, McCaffrey was a team captain during his sophomore year at Stanford and had the honor of being the player to carry out the American flag for the team.
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Now in his third year, McCaffrey should look to build upon what he accomplished in 2019. The team asked him to handle a heavy workload and he did that. He should have been selected to a Pro Bowl. Not to worry, his time will come. He has done enough to earn that title, and the Carolina Panthers should seriously consider naming him one for 2019.