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The Carolina Panthers were coming off one of the most historic NFL seasons in 2015. They had one of the league’s best offenses and also one of the most dominant defenses. They finished the regular season with only one regular season loss, before coming up just short of their goals and losing to the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. 2016, however, was a much different story. The Panthers struggled on both sides of the ball and finished the season 6-10, and third place in their division. Below is a look back at the Carolina Panthers’ 2016 fantasy football season.<\/p>\n
Cam Newton<\/a><\/strong> was coming off a great 2015 season, where he was the NFL MVP and was one of the most dominating players in the league\u00a0and fantasy football. Newton\u00a0scored a total of 389 fantasy points and averaged 24 fantasy points per game in the process. Unfortunately, 2016 yielded much different results, as Newton struggled throughout the season and only scored 254 fantasy points.<\/p>\n With an average of\u00a017 fantasy points per game, Newton\u00a0was a boom or bust player most weeks. With the struggles that Newton had last season, he will most likely fall in 2017 drafts. With his talent, he has the potential to finish in the top\u00a0ten every season, and should be targeted in the middle rounds on 2017 drafts.<\/p>\n Jonathan Stewart<\/a><\/strong> has been a solid RB2 over the last few seasons. In 2016, he totaled 884 total yards and nine touchdowns, with\u00a0138 fantasy points on the season, and an average of\u00a0ten points per game. Stewart has had some trouble with injuries throughout his career, however,\u00a0and missed three games last season due to various nicks.<\/p>\n Besides his injury problem, he is limed by Newton running the ball and stealing goal line carries. If the Panthers do not add another back in the upcoming draft, Stewart should continue to be a solid fantasy running back next season, and\u00a0can be targeted in the middle rounds of next season’s fantasy drafts.<\/p>\n The Panthers and fantasy players were more than happy to have wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin<\/a><\/strong> back in 2016, after he\u00a0missed all of the 2015 season with an ACL tear. Overall, Benjamin had a solid season with 941 yards and seven touchdowns, for\u00a0134 fantasy points on the season\u00a0and\u00a0a nine point average per contest. The problem with him was that he was very inconsistent in his production. Benjamin had four games\u00a0with five or\u00a0fewer points, and five\u00a0with\u00a0ten or more fantasy points. Simply put, he was one of the biggest risk-reward players this season. With his inconsistent production, he will most likely fall in next years drafts and could end up as a late-round bargain.<\/p>\n The Panthers next leading receiver was veteran Ted Ginn Jr<\/strong>.<\/a>, who finished the season with 850 total yards and four touchdowns, for a total of\u00a0105 fantasy points and an average of\u00a0six points per game. Ginn was rather unproductive until the end of the season, but in Weeks 11 through\u00a017 he averaged\u00a0ten points per game. Still, Ginn is not much more than a late-round flier in next year’s drafts.<\/p>\n The third wide receiver for the Panthers is Devin Funchess<\/a><\/strong>, who has struggled though his first\u00a0two seasons. In 2016, Funchess totaled 371 yards and four touchdowns for 63 fantasy points. Fuchchess is worth a late-round flier in next year’s drafts, however, based on raw physical ability and upside alone.<\/p>\n The most consistent player on the Panthers is veteran tight end Greg Olsen<\/a><\/strong>, who has had three straight seasons of 1,000 or more receiving yards. In 2016, Olsen totaled 1073 yards but only scored three touchdowns, for a total of 127 total fantasy points and an\u00a0average of\u00a0eight fantasy points per game. Olsen is one of the most consistently productive\u00a0tight ends in fantasy and can be targeted around the fifth round in 2017 drafts.<\/p>\n Panthers kicker Graham Gano<\/a><\/strong> had been one of the better kickers in NFL and fantasy football over the last few seasons. In 2016, however,\u00a0he had a down year as he missed eight field goals and three extra points. Gano’s stat line of 30\u00a0for 38 on field goal attempts,\u00a0and 31 for\u00a034 on extra point attempts, for a total of 127 fantasy points, is a step back from his highly productive 2015.\u00a0Overall, he is a solid fantasy kicker and can be drafted in the later rounds of next years drafts.<\/p>\n One of the biggest disappointments in 2016 for the Panthers was the defense. In the off-season, they lost their shut down cornerback Josh Norman<\/a><\/strong> to the Washington Redskins. In 2015, the Panthers fielded\u00a0one of the best defenses in the NFL and fantasy football. They scored 167 points in 2015, but\u00a0only 122 in 2016. They were also without their star linebacker Luke Kuechly<\/a><\/strong> for several weeks due to various injuries. Still, going forward the Panthers should have one of the better defenses\u00a0in fantasy football, and\u00a0this unit is\u00a0worth a late-round draft pick in next year’s drafts.<\/p>\n The most important factor to the Carolina Panthers’ future\u00a0success is getting Cam Newton back to his MVP form. If Newton can\u00a0recapture\u00a0the mojo\u00a0that him and the team had in 2015, the Panthers will re-claim their spot as one of the best teams in the NFL. If the Panthers can get back on track, their\u00a0players will continue to produce fantasy points for fantasy owners.<\/p>\n Main Photo:<\/p>\nRunning Back<\/h3>\n
Wide Receiver<\/h3>\n
Tight End<\/h3>\n
Kicker<\/h3>\n
Defense<\/h3>\n