There’s no reason Christian McCaffrey should play again in 2020
By Dean Jones
Christian McCaffrey shouldn’t play for the Carolina Panthers again this season.
Things are not looking good for the Carolina Panthers right now. They are in the midst of a five-game losing run that has plunged further doubt into just how long this rebuild is going to take and they might just be without Christian McCaffrey for another lengthy spell.
According to multiple reports, McCaffrey is set to miss a number of weeks with the shoulder problem that kept him out of Carolina’s demoralizing home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.
In all honesty, there is absolutely no point McCaffrey playing again this season.
It might be different if the Panthers had anything to play for. But that is simply not the case.
Any hopes the team had of making a playoff push following their winning run earlier this season have evaporated. So head coach Matt Rhule needs to play the long game regarding his best offensive weapon.
This is a disappointment, but a necesaary evil.
Imagine the uproar if McCaffrey went down with another bad injury if Carolina insisted on bringing him back for nothing more than the potential of a win or two at the end of the season. Although Rhule and others would probably say otherwise, the Panthers need to have 2021 at the forefront of their minds in terms of planning and being without the All-Pro for the next six games isn’t exactly the end of the world in the grand scheme of things.