Jalen Coker

The sophomore wide receiver who has been turning heads this offseason is heading to the IR for the first four games with a quad injury. Jalen Coker has received glowing reviews from head coach Dave Canales, stating that Coker’s performance down the stretch in the 2024 season made the organization feel comfortable parting ways with veteran Adam Thielen. The word from Panthers camp is that Coker would get the opportunity to play out of the slot. A valued position for a big-bodied wide receiver who uses his leverage and strong hands to make plays against defenders.

The Panthers showed flashes at the end of last season, and quarterback Bryce Young is feeling confident and building some great chemistry with his young pass catchers. With the injury news and Thielen leaving town, this opens up a massive opportunity for rookie Tetairoa McMillan to burst onto the scene. The six-foot-4 receiver should immediately be the primary target earner after being drafted eighth overall in the 2024 draft. While he may not be the fastest player, he excels in the intermediate portion of the field when he is operating at full speed and battling for contested catches. We should anticipate a large number of targets and success for the rookie. Another player of note is Ja’Tavion Sanders, who did show some promise last season before dealing with some injuries. He is a late-round or waiver-wire stash.

This is a young offense on the rise, which is relatively cheap to acquire. According to Underdog, Tetairoa McMillan has an ADP of 38, Bryce Young sits at 150, while Sanders comes in at 195.

Author: Dane Madoche(@FF_DaMaddog)

Adam Thielen returns home where he played football his entire career, except for the last 2 in Carolina.  He went undrafted for the Viking and had an amazing career. He was a cap casualty in 2022 for the Vikings and spent the last 2 years in Carolina. Minnesota is now dealing injuries to star reciever Justin Jefferson, veteran Jalen Nailor and a 3-game suspension for Jordan Addison. This led to Minnesota trading for Thielen. The Vikings get Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. Panthers get a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick.

Thielen is already getting drafted well below his actual value at WR69 and he has finished as WR27 and WR25 the last 2 years. He is still a steal in your drafts at this value. Jordan Addison is a great buy low option in dynasty as he will return from suspension. The impact for the Panthers is Jalen Coker will take the slot routes that Thielen occupied. When Thielen missed a few games last season Coker came in and outplayed 1st round pick Xavier Legette. Coker is likely to be Bryce Young’s WR2 for the season. You should be bumping Coker up in all draft formats.

Author: Jesse Baldwin @J_Baldwin51 

The Panthers hit the under on their 22.5 implied total Sunday versus the Cowboys. For the second straight game, Carolina failed to top 20 points. They have scored two touchdowns in each of the last two contests, Bryce Young accounting for both against the Cowboys. He threw an 83-yard TD pass to rookie receiver Jalen Coker, who caught four total passes for 110 yards and the touchdown. Young also ran for one score, totaling 12 yards on the ground. He was 19-for-28 passing for 219 yards and one TD.

With Jonathon Brooks out the remainder of the season, Chuba Hubbard owned the majority of the backfield work. The running backs rushed just 12 times, however, in a low-volume game for the Carolina offense. Hubbard rushed 10 times for 32 yards and caught all four of his targets for 17 yards. The Panthers offense is having more success as of late, but is not one to target for fantasy.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb

The Carolina Panthers are coming off their Week 11 Bye to face the Chiefs. Kansas City just fell to the Bills, marking the defending champs’ first loss of the season. The Panthers downed the Giants in their last game (Week 10), but the Panthers are scoring just 16.7 points per game on the season – the 4^th lowest in the NFL. The Chiefs defense has allowed just 19.4 PPG to opposing offenses, eighth-fewest in the league, and the fifth-fewest yards (297.5).

Bryce Young, who is getting his fourth straight start, threw for 224 yards and two TDs versus a tough Broncos D in Week 8, but threw for 171 yards and 126 yards, respectively, in his last two starts – one pass TD in each. It’s a low-volume pass attack with Young at the helm. No Panthers pass catcher has earned more than eight targets in any of Young’s starts. Jalen Coker drew eight against the Giants, but caught only three. Coker is tied with Xavier Legette for the team lead in targets over the last three with 17.

We could see an uptick in the Carolina passing volume against a middle of the road Kansas City pass defense, as the Chiefs’ run defense is a top-five unit. Adam Thielen is back in the mix this week, which could water down the pass volume, but Thielen will likely ramp up to game action slowly after missing the team’s last seven games. The bottom line is without a touchdown, none of the Panthers’ WRs or TEs is worth much more than a Bye week spot start. Legette is the most likely to get in the end zone, having caught four TDs on 45 targets and 69.8-percent (No. 72) Route Participation.

Miles Sanders is out with a lower leg injury and Jonathon Brooks is slated to make his NFL debut this week. That said, Brooks will merely spell Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard has been getting bell cow work this season – No. 9 with 151.6 Weighted Opportunities. Temper expectations against a stingy Chiefs run D, however, that has not allowed a single running back to gain more 69 total yards in a game this season.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb

Chuba Hubbard owned the Panthers’ backfield Sunday with Miles Sanders (knee/foot) playing only six snaps and Jonathon Brooks a healthy scratch. Hubbard ran the ball 28 times for 153 yards and a score versus the Giants in Munich. He is now No. 3 in the NFL with 818 rushing yards, trailing only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. With Sanders banged up and Brooks ramping up slowly, Hubbard is getting bell cow usage and careening toward league winner status.

With the Panthers leaning into the run game and not much resistance from the Giants on the other side of the ball, Bryce Young threw only 25 passes, his lowest pass attempt total on the season. Young is a last resort QB start. He does not add much on the ground, although he did add 30 yards on the ground Sunday on two rush attempts.

In a low volume passing attack, Jalen Coker was the target leader with eight, catching just three for 41 yards. Xavier Legette caught three of his four targets for 40 yards and Ja’Tavion Sanders had the lone receiving touchdown on one of his two targets. Sanders caught his other target, but went down on the one-yard line. Otherwise, he would have had a two-catch, two-touchdown day.

– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb