Carolina Panthers: Christian McCaffrey should be put in MVP conversation.

The Carolina Panthers running back is being put into the MVP conversation.

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey is turning heads. After an impressive 2018 season in which he proved he could be a do-it-all running back in the National Football League, he looks to improve upon those numbers in his third year.

If one thing is for certain, it was that he avoided the sophomore slump and he truly showed he had what it took to be a starter. That was certainly encouraging for a team that did not have many bright spots last year.

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There were some questions heading into last year’s offseason about whether he would be durable enough to play the game and if he could run between the tackles. Those questions were quickly answered as he put up tremendous numbers on the ground and became a major part of the Carolina Panthers offense. Not only did he run between the tackles, he bruised his way into running lanes. Not only did he catch passes, he used his lightning speed to turn simple screens into touchdowns. With what was a difficult workload, he showed that he had the stamina to endure that and Excel. Now in his third year, the Carolina Panthers should look to take some of the pressure off him offensively.

It appears that some of the national media is taking notice of his hard work, and that is a great thing. You have heard me say before that the Carolina Panthers get no love from the national media whatsoever. Now, they may get too much of it. Between their new show on Amazon and the amount of talented players they have on both sides of the football, they could receive the respect they finally deserve.

In his appearance on Good Morning Football on Tuesday, Peter Schrager of NFL Network was quick to praise McCaffrey.

"“If Cam Newton’s shoulder is fine and this team can move, this guy is going to possibly be an MVP candidate,” said Schrager of McCaffrey. “He was unbelievable last year. They started off 6-2, he was in the conversation (for MVP), only got better. I think he might be the most exciting player in football, and might be the best dual-threat running back … might be the best running back in the game.”"

I agree with him, Christian McCaffrey got stronger as the year went on, and he was the only reason the Carolina Panthers were in a lot of the games towards the end. He could be a viable MVP candidate, and I’ll even go as far as to say he could be the reason they go to the playoffs next year.

For all the work they have done in the offseason adding talent on both sides of the football, and putting together a strong free agent class, perhaps the biggest improvements have come within the team. McCaffrey has been working hard. You have seen pictures of him looking absolutely jacked, and I think that hard work and determination will pay off for him during the regular season.

It will be interesting to see how the Carolina Panthers use the running back this season. If last season was any indication, they will be using him a lot and in the majority of packages and running plays. That’s the way it should be. When he is on top of his game, he is one of the most explosive players in all of football. He is truly a ton of fun to watch, and the Carolina Panthers fans are lucky to be able to watch him go to work every Sunday.

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