The Carolina Panthers are looking to trade veteran players, and on Thursday night the headline move came with the news they were sending Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for four draft picks. The “next man up” as Carolina’s lead back looks to be D’Onta Foreman. Chuba Hubbard deserves a mention, but Foreman is the more appealing fantasy back left in Carolina right now.
Interim head coach Steve Wilks has also mentioned Raheem Blackshear as part of the Panthers’ new backfield “committee”, but let’s believe that when we see it.
With McCaffrey healthy, Foreman only has 12 carries for 37 yards in six games this season. But last year with the Tennessee Titans, after Derrick Henry went down with a foot injury, he had 566 yards (4.3 yards per carry) and three touchdowns on 133 carries in nine games. He topped 100 yards on the ground three times.
Over that span last year with the Titans (Week 9-18), Foreman was RB20 in standard fantasy scoring and he as top-25 in 0.5-point and full PPR. Narrowing to Week 12-17, when he had at least 19 carries and/or a touchdown in all five games, Foreman was RB13 in standard fantasy scoring and a top-20 back otherwise.
Foreman will cede some work to Hubbard, with a likely tilt toward passing downs. But it’s not like Foreman is a stiff as a pass catcher (10.9 yards per target for his NFL career). He just hasn’t been used much in that area.
Foreman has already experienced a post-McCaffrey trade spike in fantasy ownership rate. But coming from virtually nil, as of this writing he’s owned in 25.3 percent of ESPN leagues and 44 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
The ceiling isn’t great in a Carolina offense that has been awful. But a running back in line for a majority share of work is automatically of interest in fantasy. Foreman is an immediate bench stash in leagues with 12 or more teams, and a possible volume-based flex option as bye weeks go on.
ATTN Dynasty Commissioners: Do you want to do something cool for your league? How about a 1-hour live show dedicated to YOUR league? Team-by-team breakdowns, rankings, and more. For details and to book a show, visit: GoingFor2.com/plp.
The GoingFor2 Live Podcast
