Carolina Panthers - Fantasy News

Panthers at Saints Start 'Em / Sit 'Em

by Aaron Bowers

11/30/17

NFL

Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton

When the Carolina Panthers travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints on Sunday afternoon, the NFC South division lead will be on the line. Both teams enter this game at 8-3, though the Saints hold the tiebreaker after a 34-13 victory in Carolina in Week 3.

There are few teams in the NFL as inconsistent as the Panthers. The same squad that beat the Patriots in New England lost by 14 points to the Bears three weeks later. A defense that has held four separate offenses to three points just gave up 27 to Josh McCown. Carolina will need to put all the pieces together on Sunday if it is to get a win in the Superdome.

After season-opening losses to the Vikings and Patriots, the Saints rolled up eight straight victories before losing to the Rams in Week 12. With several key injuries, the much-improved defense has given up 31 and 26 points, respectively, in the last two weeks, putting additional pressure on the offense to put a big number on the scoreboard.

In what could become a high-scoring affair, we’ve identified players to fade and target on Dober Play Cards for both of these playoff contenders.

Carolina Panthers Week 13 Projected Fantasy Points
Cam Newton: 18.0 PFP
Christian McCaffrey: 13.0 PFP
Devin Funchess: 11.5 PFP
Graham Gano: 8.0 PFP
Jonathan Stewart: 6.0 PFP
Ed Dickson: 5.5 PFP

New Orleans Saints Week 13 Projected Fantasy Points
Drew Brees: 18.0 PFP
Alvin Kamara: 17.0 PFP
Mark Ingram: 15.5 PFP
Michael Thomas: 12.5 PFP
Will Lutz: 9.5 PFP
Ted Ginn: 9.0 PFP
Brandon Coleman: 5.5 PFP

Start 'Em: Cam Newton (18.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 18.95

After several seasons in which Carolina tried to make Newton a pocket passer, the coaching staff has thrown in the towel and let him run free. Newton is averaging the most rushing yards per game since his second NFL season and has averaged nearly 7 DFP per game on the ground. With such a high weekly floor, he only needs an average of 11 DFP through the air to get over his PFP. In a potential shootout against an injury-ravaged defense, Newton should have no problem getting over that PFP this week.

Sit 'Em: Jonathan Stewart (6.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 6.27

One of the oldest running backs in the league, Stewart is an extremely limited player at this stage of his career. In recent weeks, he’s fallen way behind rookie Christian McCaffrey in the snap count as the offense has evolved in the wake of the Kelvin Benjamin trade. Though he’s scored more than 6.0 DFP three times in his last four games, two of those were due to Stewart scoring his second and third touchdowns of the season. If he isn’t on the field and those scores go elsewhere, Stewart should be good for 12 carries for 33 yards—not nearly enough to get over his PFP.

Start 'Em: Alvin Kamara (17.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 17.49

There aren’t many players in the NFL as exciting as Kamara right now. The rookie out of Tennessee has great hands, short-area quickness, blazing long speed and incredible balance, making him a menace for defenses any time he’s on the field. Though Carolina has played respectable defense this season, Kamara has proven to be matchup-proof. In his last five games, he has DFP totals of 15.1, 28.2, 22.3, 20.6 and 33.8. Though 17.0 DFP is a high bar for any non-quarterback to clear, Kamara has the big-play ability to get 10-14 DFP any time he touches the ball.

Sit 'Em: Drew Brees (18.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 17.43

After carrying the offense in New Orleans for more than a decade, Brees has taken a backseat to the running game in 2017. On pace to average the fewest passing yards and the second-fewest pass attempts per game since coming to New Orleans, Brees isn’t the fantasy producer that he once was. If you take out two fluky rushing touchdowns, he has scored more than 18.0 DFP in just five of 11 games this season. The Panthers have given up just 14.3 DFP per contest to quarterbacks, which is one of the best marks in the league. An uncertain workload in a bad matchup, we recommend fading Brees on Dober Play Cards this week.