11 January 2026
11 January 2026
11 January 2026
Horn often played the shifty, speed receiver role for the Panthers — he was actually used fairly often in Weeks 5-7 before Jalen Coker returned. The rookie wideout dropped the final ball Bryce Young threw in this game, but figures to challenge for a roster spot in 2026 and could eventually bump up against Xavier Legette’s role once the Panthers get tired of watching Legette targets.
11 January 2026
He made all four extra points. The rookie kicker finishes his season 24-of-29 on field goals, with three of his five misses coming from beyond 50 yards. He did miss three extra points on 30 attempts. The Panthers could choose to bring in competition for the 2025 UDFA kicker this offseason, but they never did at any point in the regular season.11 January 2026
McMillan against light Rams cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was an instant smash hit for the Panthers whenever they could manage to create that matchup. The big-bodied receiver won over the middle and had 20 yards after the catch. He’s an interesting receiver heading into his sophomore season — the flashes are obvious and he clearly looks the part of a future Drake London-type. McMillan also failed to really spike a huge target week in Carolina’s low-volume passing attack, managing just four ga ...11 January 2026
Outside of Legette’s 9/92/1 game against (of course) the Jets in Week 5, the Panthers’ “No. 1 receiver” per Dave Canales’ NFL combine interview did absolutely nothing of fantasy note this season. He cleared 50 yards just one other time and managed receiving yardage totals of 3 yards, one yard, zero yards, and minus-2 yards (on eight targets!) in four of his 15 games. Legette’s fantasy stock in 2026 is at “A Chipmunk Christmas in a thrift store bargain bin” levels.11 January 2026
Evans was relegated to the background on the rare occasions when Ja’Tavion Sanders was healthy, finishing his rookie season with a 19/171/2 receiving line. He enters 2026 third on the Carolina tight end depth chart, but showed some flashes and wouldn’t be a bad TE2 flier if he had a non-trivial role in this offense.11 January 2026
Topping out at 3/48 in Week 2’s loss to the Cardinals, Tremayne was mostly a part-time receiver and enters 2026 as an exclusive rights free agent after finally seeing real playing time in his third post-college year. He’ll likely compete for a roster spot this offseason.11 January 2026
Coker did have one previous 100-yard game, against the Cowboys in 2024, but this is a career-high in yardage, catches, and targets for the second-year receiver. He even caught the go-ahead touchdown with a little over two minutes left in the game. Almost makes you think the Panthers should have tried to make him the No. 2 option sometime before the Wild Card game. Coker will get plenty of offseason fantasy helium based on this game, perhaps enough to get him in the WR4 range, but the volume in t ...11 January 2026
The Panthers failed to establish a full-time TE1 for most of this year, with Tremble only going over 75.4 percent of the snaps in the final two games of the regular season. He played 54-of-67 snaps versus the Rams. Tremble caught more than one ball in six of his 18 games played this season. He’s low-end TE2 fodder at best entering the final year of his contract.11 January 2026
He added two catches for 13 yards on four targets. Hubbard was “the hot hand” here, perhaps a slatebreaker for the Wild Card round considering how lightly-touched he was off four straight sub-30 yard, scoreless duds. Supposed to be a safe RB2 in 2025 drafts, Hubbard struggled with a calf injury and eventually gave way to The Rico Dowdle Midseason Experience. Hubbard is contractually likely to be Carolina’s starting back again in 2026 — he has a $7.5 million cap figure, but it also wouldn ...11 January 2026
A worthwhile RB1 for the middle months of the fantasy season, Dowdle took control of the Carolina backfield in Week 5 with a scintillating 23/206/1 effort against the Dolphins in a comeback win. Over the next eight games, Dowdle averaged 17.6 carries for 80 yards and scored three times while adding a respectable 25.8 yards per game and another score as a receiver. We’re not sure whether to blame the toe and other ailments he played through or if he just slowed down under a 20-carry a game work ...11 January 2026
His most important contribution against the Rams was letting one punt return clank off his helmet to be recovered by the Rams, then nearly losing a second one later in the exact same way. Etienne never truly entered the backfield derby in Carolina, topping out at 7/33 against the Patriots in a 42-13 drubbing where he mostly played late. The 114th overall pick in last year’s draft, Etienne could wind up as Chuba Hubbard’s No. 2 back this offseason if the Panthers don’t add anyone else to th ...11 January 2026
It is, amazingly, Parkinson’s ninth touchdown in his last 10 games despite cracking 50 yards just once over that span. The Rams steered away from their 13-personnel sets in this game without Terrance Ferguson, but Parkinson continued to eat up snaps, playing a tight-end-room high 57 of the team’s 75. Can you call someone a touchdown or bust option if he almost always spits up a touchdown? That’s what you’re confronted with in the Divisional Round slate.11 January 2026
Despite scoring in his return from injured reserve in Week 18, Higbee played 39 of 75 snaps this week and was mostly kept in check as Davante Adams garnered a huge amount of targets. He managed a 36-yard catch in the middle of a busted zone in this one, but otherwise didn’t build much of a TE punt case for next week’s Divisional Round slate.11 January 2026
It never really felt like the Panthers had efficiency on their side in this one, with Young struggling to complete 50 percent of his passes and dealing with plenty of pressure early. But Young hit some big plays downfield, including a 52-yarder to Jalen Coker, and led the Panthers to a go-ahead touchdown drive with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Given the ball with 38 seconds left down three, Young led a quick four-and-out to end the game. Up and down. Up and down. That’s so ...11 January 2026
Williams’ angle route in the fourth quarter put the Rams back in front in the fourth quarter. The Rams didn’t really do a great job of establishing the run with Kevin Dotson out, and Williams continued to split carries with Blake Corum while out-snapping him 47-28 per the early PFF charting data. Williams will be part of the high-end RB conversation in Divisional Round DFS and Playoff Best Ball next week.11 January 2026
He didn’t score, but Corum went over 10 carries for the fifth time in six games. Neither Corum or Williams found much running room in this one without guard Kevin Dotson, with Corum getting the Rams’ long rushing gain of eight yards. Corum should be involved in the Divisional Round fantasy discussion but is clearly a 1B back looking for a favorable situation to emerge over the next 36 hours.11 January 2026
And somehow it could have been better, because his one incomplete pass was a 30-yard downfield pass towards the end of the first half that it hit him right in the hands. Had Nacua caught it, he had a fairly good shot at a third score. The favorite for offensive player of the year continued his grind, helping Matthew Stafford out by breaking up a late would-be interception and using his accuracy to erase some of the trouble Stafford and Davante Adams had getting on the same page throughout the ga ...
