Panthers still want to spread ball around

Jul 27, 2016

The question now is how the Carolina offense will look with the 6-foot-5 Kelvin Benjamin back in the mix with emerging star Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr. and the rest of a group that overachieved in 2015.

There's no doubt that Benjamin will provide an upgrade. General manager Dave Gettleman said it’s like having an extra first-round draft pick.

Cam Newton grew as a quarterback when he was forced to spread the ball among a receiving corps that had no star. This camp could be about resisting the temptation to lean on Benjamin, which Newton often did in 2014, when the first-round pick out of Florida State had 73 catches for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns.

Fantasy Impact:

Banjamin is back in our rankings as a lower-end WR2. We still project a nice season for him with a 74-1,008-8.2 line. Based on ADP, it looks like Benjamin is going before he should in drafts, likely because owners speculate a little less spreading around of the ball. However, that doesn't appear to be the goal of the offense this season.

yesterday

Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson officially Out for Week 12

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 4:12 PM EST

Cowboys list TE Jake Ferguson as out for Sunday’s game vs. Washington due to his concussion.

Related Players: Luke Schoonmaker

Fantasy Impact:

This puts Schoonmaker more or less in TE streaming consideration, but there are far better options this week, which puts him low on the totem pole.

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith officially Out for Week 12

Mike Garafolo

yesterday · 4:04 PM EST

Eagles ruled out WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) for Sunday against the Rams.

Related Players: A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Dallas Goedert

Fantasy Impact:

It's a bit of a crapshoot as to who the "WR2" on the offense will be, but now that he's ruled out, Brown and Goedert should get a nice boost to their bottom line. That would lock Goedert into a no-doubt TE1 role in Week 12.