The Carolina Panthers have undergone some major changes this offseason, particularly under center, where they have parted ways with Cam Newton and replaced him with Teddy Bridgewater. But one key thing has remained the same: Christian McCaffrey in the backfield.
McCaffrey has developed into one of the best running backs in the NFL and is a Fantasy Football owner's dream, racking up stats in a variety of categories.
If it weren't for him going into 2020, the Panthers probably wouldn't have much of anything to look forward to.
So let's break down McCaffrey's fantasy outlook for this coming season.
2019 Fantasy Recap
McCaffrey was thoroughly dominant in 2019, and even saying that may be an understatement.
The Stanford product was easily the best halfback in fantasy this past year, finishing No. 1 in both total points and average points per week.
With Newton playing in just two games before bowing out with a foot injury and Kyle Allen struggling most of the way in Newton's stead, McCaffrey became the clear-cut focal point of Carolina's offense.
He played in all 16 games, registering 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground while averaging a robust 4.8 yards per carry. In addition, McCaffrey hauled in 116 receptions for 1,005 yards and four scores, marking his second straight campaign of 1,000 rushing yards and 100 catches.
There was some chatter earlier this offseason that the Panthers could potentially trade McCaffrey to recoup significant value for the superstar in his prime, but that was probably never a realistic scenario.
McCaffrey was essentially everything to Carolina's offense in 2019 and led the league with in both touches (403) and yards from scrimmage (2,392), so whoever had him on their fantasy squad was living large this past season.
2020 Fantasy Projections
McCaffrey will probably get just as much use in 2020 as he did in 2019, or at least nearly as much.
Yes, Bridgewater is certainly more capable than Allen, but we still have little to no evidence that Bridgewater is anything more than a game manager, so he could be targeting McCaffrey on check downs quite a bit.
Once again, McCaffrey will be the No. 1 option in a Panthers offense that also includes talented wide receivers in DJ Moore and the newly acquired Robby Anderson. As good as Moore has been and as impressive of a No. 2 receiver that Anderson is, it seems hard to imagine Carolina straying too much from McCaffrey this coming season.
Barring injuries, a 1,000-yard rushing campaign seems to be a shoo-in for McCaffrey. He carried the ball 287 times in 2019, and he will likely log a similar amount of totes in 2020. Plus, with more receiving threats and a more stable situation at quarterback, defenses will not be able to key on McCaffrey as much, so he may have more room to run this year.
As far as McCaffrey totaling 100 receptions again? That is questionable. Again, the Panthers have a really good one-two punch at wideout now, and while they did lose Greg Olsen at tight end, they have the young Ian Thomas, who looked impressive down the stretch last season.
That doesn't change the fact that McCaffrey will unquestionably be rattling off a hefty amount of catches in 2020, though. It just probably won't be the 116 grabs he had in 2019, nor the 107 receptions he had in 2018.
Rank at Position
There are a lot of good running backs in the NFL aside from McCaffrey. Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry, Nick Chubb and Dalvin Cook. The list goes on and on.
However, it would be very surprising if McCaffrey wasn't a top-three fantasy back at minimum in 2020.
The 24-year-old finished in the top three each of the last two years, finishing at No. 3 on the dot in 2018 before leading the NFL this past season. His situation hasn't changed all that much entering this coming season, so he should be in that range again.
Barkley and Elliott are probably his two main rivals to contend with in terms of all-purpose performance. Both Barkley and Elliott are capable of racking up both rushing and receiving stats like McCaffrey, so as long as those three stars stay healthy, they may very well comprise the top three fantasy halfbacks in the NFL in some form or fashion.
Henry and Chubb are both outstanding rushers, but Henry is not much of a receiver at all (15 catches in 2019), and while Chubb is a bit more adept at catching the ball than Henry, he is still not even close to the aforementioned big three in terms of receiving skill.
You can safely draft McCaffrey and expect him to finish at or near the top of running backs in 2020.
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