Breaking down the Panthers roadmap to Christian McCaffrey’s health

Carolina Panthers must be cautious with Christian McCaffrey

When Christian McCaffrey is inevitably on the field, the Carolina Panthers have to be smart about how they use him. Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo cannot call plays for him constantly and whoever is under center must not become overreliant on the running back moving forward.

If a player is open, throw the ball to them. But don’t force the Stanford product to make things happen all the time, which has been the case more often than not throughout his stint with the organization.

Doing too much is a recipe for disaster.

Use McCaffrey as bait, move the running back around the formation, and throw the other way. Limit the amount of punishment he takes when on the field.

It’s so very tempting when you have a player of this caliber to overuse them. But it simply isn’t a sustainable plan given what’s transpired with McCaffrey over the last two seasons.

While there is no surefire way to prevent injuries, these are some simple steps that can and must be taken to lessen the overall risk of another lost season. And yes, there is something to be said of saving McCaffrey from himself, but the team also bears that weight.

The Panthers must keep McCaffrey healthy before it’s too late and he becomes another “could have been” while the team sees their potential playoff window close once again.