Amid much outside speculation surrounding running back Christian McCaffrey's future with the Carolina Panthers, team general manager Scott Fitterer is currently looking ahead to his return to action in the 2022 season. Overall, McCaffrey could possibly see major on-field changes for the upcoming new campaign.

McCaffrey is coming off of another season that was marred by injury. After featuring in a mere three games in the previous season due to multiple notable injuries, he wound up playing in seven games over the 2021 campaign, as hamstring and ankle injuries sidelined him from key contests in the schedule. The fifth-year running back was a vital contributor to Carolina when available, which included 785 yards from scrimmage and a 5.8 yards per touch average in his appearances with the team this past season.

Even as McCaffrey has been labeled as injury-prone by many as of late, Fitterer opted against buying into this notion during his 2022 NFL Scouting Combine press conference. Instead, the Panthers general manager noted that the one-time Pro Bowler has dealt with “freak injuries.”

“The talk is he’s been hurt the last couple years,” Fitterer said. “They’ve really been kinda freak injuries. The one in Miami was a freak injury. Someone fell on top of him.

“I think what we’ll look at is are there different ways we could practice? Are there different things we can do during the week with Christian? I know he’s very in-tune with his body, he’s really studying that as well. And we’ll do anything we can to help him. I think more than anything, those have kinda been more freak injuries than anything else.”

McCaffrey has had a hefty workload in his run in Carolina so far. He led all the NFL in touches over the 2019 campaign with 403 and has also posted a 19.6 touches per game average in five seasons in Carolina.

Fitterer is open to easing off the workload for McCaffrey in the 2022 season. Among the options that will be on the table for Fitterer centers on providing the Panthers feature back with more snaps as a slot receiver. At the moment, he is not ruling out this possibility.

“I think we’ll explore every option,” Fitterer said. “Maybe that does take a little bit of wear off his body. The one thing I know is we’re a better team when he does have the ball in his hands. He’s a playmaker from anywhere—whether it’s the slot or coming out of the backfield.”

McCaffrey has been a stout contributor in the passing game over his Panthers tenure. For one, he helped to balance out the offense for quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Cam Newton in the 2021 campaign; he tallied for 37 receptions in seven games played. More so, he has logged a combined 51 snaps played as a slot receiver in his last three seasons (26 games) with the Panthers.

In the big picture, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule could end up rolling out a one-two punch at the running back position with both McCaffrey and first-year talent Chuba Hubbard. In his rookie season, Hubbard led the way for Carolina with a team-leading 612 rushing yards coupled with the 4.0 yards per touch average in 17 games played. He had promising performances over the season, which included his 101 rushing yards game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5.

A major season is looming ahead for McCaffrey.