Panthers Beat: Greg Olsen 'most valuable piece' in passing game

Aug 25, 2015

Much has been made of the Panthers losing wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin for the season with a torn ACL.

A bigger loss would be TE Greg Olsen.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, receivers and tight ends made up 87 percent of Carolina’s total targets last season. That was the third-highest rate in the NFL even though the Panthers had only six games where individual receivers and tight ends were targeted 10 times in a game in 2014.

But if you take the tight ends out of the equation, specifically Olsen, the ranking falls to 17th.

In other words, Olsen is the most valuable piece of the Carolina passing game.

Fantasy Impact:

Olsen has been lining up all over the field for the Panthers in camp the story said. Since 2011, when Newton was the top pick of the draft, Olsen has been targeted 415 times. That’s the third-most of any tight end behind Jimmy Graham (548) and Jason Witten (457). Olsen has led Carolina in receptions the past two seasons, including a career-high 84 catches for 1,008 yards last season, the story added. We rank Olsen third among our TEs so we certainly see his value. And it could go up with the loss of Benjamin.

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Bears RB D'Andre Swift, WR Keenan Allen both Questionable for Week 12

Scott Bair

33 minutes ago

D'Andre Swift is questionable to play Vikings with a groin injury, though he was limited Thursday and a full participant on Friday.

Keenan Allen is questionable with an ankle injury. He was limited on Friday, his first day on the participation report.

Related Players: Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze

Fantasy Impact:

Separate reports called Swift "very likely" to play, but this is seemingly a new issue for Allen.

If Keenan were to miss Week 12, it would boost the floor of all pass-catchers, namely Moore, Oduzne, and Cole Kmet. Moore + Odunze would sneak closer to WR2 territory than their low-end WR3 designations they have with a healthy Allen.

Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco officially Out for Week 12

Matt McMullen

42 minutes ago

Charles Omenihu (knee) and Isiah Pacheco (ankle) won’t play on Sunday, per Coach Reid.

“Just taking it day-by-day,” Reid added.

Related Players: Samaje Perine

Fantasy Impact:

It was later reported that Pacheco was "healthy enough" but they're hoping to hold him back one more game with a short week coming up. This makes Hunt a volume-based RB2 in Week 12.

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb returns to Friday practice

Joseph Hoyt

1 hour ago

CeeDee Lamb practiced today, per Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. That’s a good sign.

Lamb (back/foot) was limited in a walkthrough on Wednesday and missed practice on Thursday.

Related Players: Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks, Ryan Flournoy

Fantasy Impact:

Obviously good news for the Cowboys' potential in rolling out an NFL offense in Week 12. The floor is capped for Lamb but we should expect a ton of action funneling his way against the Commanders, which puts him on the WR1/2 fringe.