5 things that might go wrong for the Carolina Panthers in 2021
By Jason Huber
Christian McCaffrey gets hurt again
It’s no secret that the Carolina Panthers are Christian McCaffrey’s team. But last season, the All-Pro only played in three games due to injury problems.
While running back Mike Davis did a solid job filling in as the starter, he was no McCaffrey and he isn’t around anymore after signing for the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.
With Davis leaving, Carolina got a much younger backup for McCaffrey by drafting Oklahoma State product Chuba Hubbard in the fourth round.
Hubbard is an athletic back that should have similar skillsets to McCaffrey, but would he be able to lead a team if something were to happen to the former Stanford star?
Reggie Bonnafon and Rodney Smith are competing with Hubbard at the tailback position and out of the two, the former seems like the only one who is worth a look at being an every-down back should something happen to McCaffrey.
However, even if McCaffrey stays healthy, it’s expected for his snaps to be drastically more limited than two years ago where he had over 400 touches.
The drop-off will obviously be big for whoever spells him. The Panthers are hoping Hubbard will show enough promise that it doesn’t impact the performance of the offense.
Davis slowed down towards the end of the season in 2020 and the offense was hindered. If none of the backup running backs show they’re reliable, McCaffrey will continue to have a huge workload.