4 options the Carolina Panthers have with Christian McCaffrey in 2022
By Dean Jones
What options do the Carolina Panthers have with running back Christian McCaffrey after another frustrating campaign on the injury front?
It was not what the Carolina Panthers or Christian McCaffrey had in mind. Another torrid year on the injury front that resulted in a second consecutive trip to early season-ending injured/reserve after just seven appearances.
This takes McCaffrey‘s tally to just 10 games through the last two years. His iron man image is now a thing of the past and the Panthers need to figure out pretty quickly what to do with a player who is the league’s best dual-threat out of the backfield when firing on all cylinders.
Carolina cannot be over-reliant on McCaffrey moving forward. They’ve struggled significantly without the All-Pro and seemingly had no contingency plan whatsoever when the Stanford product was forced to the sidelines during their win at the Houston Texans in Week 3.
McCaffrey’s situation is pretty commonplace when it comes to running backs who are given significant responsibilities during the early part of their careers. The likes of Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans also find themselves on the shelf, which is a testament to the violent nature of playing the position and the dangers that could emerge by giving them long-term, lucrative extensions.
It’s worth remembering that McCaffrey hadn’t missed a single game since being drafted before signing his four-year, $64 million deal with a $21 million signing bonus and $38 million guaranteed. But the new coaching staff rode the 2017 first-round pick heavily – much like Ron Rivera did in 2019 – which was too much to cope with judging by what’s transpired after.
With this in mind, here are four options the Panthers have with McCaffrey in 2022.