5 Carolina Panthers who have held the team back in 2021
By Dean Jones
Christian McCaffrey – Carolina Panthers RB
This might not be anything to do with Christian McCaffrey’s production on the field. But the Carolina Panthers have been held back by the All-Pro’s inability to stay healthy for a consistent period of time once again.
Just how much blame can be placed on McCaffrey’s shoulders is debatable. The running back clearly gets a say in usage, but something is amiss regarding this given the Stanford product has only featured 10 times over the last two seasons.
Who knows what the Panthers’ record would look like had McCaffrey managed to play a full season? But their complete capitulation without the former first-round pick is a damning indictment of just how over-reliant the offensive scheme was on the player.
Something has to give. Especially considering McCaffrey’s bumper new contract is set to kick in from 2022 onwards.
It comes down to two simple things, really.
Either reduce his workload significantly. Or come up with better solutions on how to get production from elsewhere.
McCaffrey has a unique skill set. One that makes him arguably the league’s best dual-threat running back when healthy.
That gives the Panthers an opportunity to utilize this in an efficient fashion that also preserves McCaffrey’s health. Whether they can do this or not is another matter.