Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey ran for 33 yards and a score on 10 carries in Sunday's loss to the Browns, adding 4-24 receiving on 4 targets. A largely sluggish offensive day for Carolina hurt, and QB Baker Mayfield claimed a rushing TD from 7 yards out in the 4th quarter. D'Onta Foreman and Chubb Hubbard combined for just 3 carries and 0 targets behind him.

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ESPN Panthers reporter David Newton seems to think RB D'Onta Foreman will be the #2 RB for Carolina this season. In a piece with team-by-team fantasy-related questions for beat writers, Newton writes: "If [Christian McCaffrey] can play 14-17 games, he should again be one of the most productive backs in the league. Just in case, though, put D'Onta Foreman on your roster for insurance." We still wouldn't bet on either Foreman or Chuba Hubbard as a direct replacement should McCaffrey go down. But this could point to Foreman at least taking the rushing lead in that scenario.

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Panthers HC Matt Rhule said RB Chuba Hubbard has “really improved” his pass protection. It’s only relevant if Christian McCaffrey misses more time, but it’s a nice development for the 23-year-old after a lackluster rookie season. Currently, Hubbard is battling free-agent addition D’Onta Foreman for scraps behind CMC.

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The Panthers have placed Christian McCaffrey on IR for the 2nd time this season, following his left-ankle injury in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins. That automatically knocks him out for the rest of the year, since it's his 2nd IR stint. It's a surprising development after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported earlier Monday that the injury "doesn't seem major." We'll see about the specifics of the injury, but that won't really matter until we're evaluating McCaffrey for 2022 fantasy football drafts. For now, it's Chuba Hubbard back to the lead at the position in Carolina. He averaged 17.8 carries, 65.8 yards and 0.4 TDs per game rushing in 5 fill-in starts earlier this season, with another 2.6 receptions and 17.6 receiving yards per contest. The Panthers have since added RB Ameer Abdullah, who figures to steal some passing-down snaps from Hubbard the rest of the way. Abdullah has seen 4+ targets in 4 of the past 5 games, averaging 2.6 catches and 22.4 receiving yards per game over those 5 contests.

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