Carolina

Panthers

Waller’s second quarter touchdown came after he beat a linebacker on a post route. It was also one of just two targets in a game the Panthers went on to lose 43-13. Waller’s score was the only black and teal tally before garbage time. Nice, though Waller had previously not found the end zone since Week 2. He has 14 total catches through six games. The limited overall workload has made Waller difficult to trust as a TE2 because of his zero-point floor. He will have some big-play potential Thursday against teh Packers.

Feel lucky McMillan even reached those marks, as the Panthers simply did not compete in a game where they committed four turnovers and trailed 33-6 at halftime. The first-team offense sat for the game’s final 10 minutes. McMillan had a better go of it than Jalen Coker, who caught one pass and fell down to create an interception. A shambles, though one the Panthers have to move on from quickly, as they are headed to Green Bay for a potential short-week shootout on Thursday Night Football.

Coker was also the intended target on the first of Bryce Young’s two interceptions. The wideout fell down, leading to the miscue. It was simply a nightmarish day for the Panthers’ offense, who also watched Young cough up a fumble-six. With the Panthers trailing 33-6 at halftime and 43-6 at the 10:21 mark of the fourth, the first-team offense sat for the game’s final 10 minutes. A disaster for fantasy managers, but likely a short-lived one with the Panthers heading to Green Bay for a short-week Thursday night matchup with the Pack. Coker must still be fired up as a WR2 for that one.

With Bryce Young committing three turnovers — killing drives and setting up Bucs short fields that took the Panthers out of run-friendly game script — Hubbard had little shot at providing fantasy-friendly returns this afternoon unless he found the end zone late. He did not, with those honors going to “Anthony Tyus III” in garbage time. It was just one of those days in Charlotte. Thankfully the Panthers don’t have long to stew, as they must now get ready for a short-week Thursday evening road date with the Packers. With most Pack — and Panthers — games projecting as shootouts these days, Hubbard will remain safely ensconced in the high-end RB2 ranks.

With the Panthers somehow losing 43-6 in the fourth quarter, Young gave way to Kenny Pickett for the final 10:11. Pickett immediately engineered a garbage time touchdown drive. This was by far Young’s worst performance of what had so far been a legitimate breakout campaign, as he short-circuited one drive after another and set up Bucs short fields with turnovers. The fumble-six was the most costly mistake, but Young’s second interception was probably his worst throw. He was fooled by the coverage under pressure and threw the ball right to Tykee Smith. Young’s first pick came after Jalen Coker fell down. In between all the miscues, Young could get nothing going with either Coker or Tetairoa McMillan. It was hard to see this coming — especially against the Bucs — but it is even harder to see it continuing for Thursday’s short-week date with the Packers. With that contest likely to feature shootout game script, Young will remain in the low-end QB1 ranks.

Phillips is a big loss, but it’s an otherwise quiet list for the Panthers vs. a more-injured and undermanned Bucs squad. Phillips is week to week after pulling his hammy in Week 6 against the Eagles.

Dillon didn’t practice last week and was ruled out on Friday. He should be good for Week 7, barring a setback in practice. Dillon will back up Chuba Hubbard, though Trevor Etienne could also see a few snaps.

It’s the first time we’ve seen Young o the injury report with this knee issue, though a full practice today is nothing to worry about. He will be good to go for his date with the Bucs. Young is currently the QB4 by fantasy points per game. Even if he does cool down this week, Young should be in most starting fantasy lineups.

Initial reports have Waller playing on 36 of the team’s 79 snaps and running a route on 21 of their 46 dropbacks. Tommy Tremble, the other tight end, ran a route on 14 dropbacks, so Waller is technically the primary option in the passing game of the two. However, Tremble scored two touchdowns this week. We don’t recommend chasing either guy in fantasy right now.

The Panthers seemed a little concerned about the Eagles’ pass rush since Tremble played on 54 of the team’s 79 snaps. He also was on the field for more than half of their dropbacks, but a large chunk of those were in pass-blocking situations. Still, he was schemed wide open on both touchdown passes, which led to a great fantasy day. It’s just not something we would recommend chasing next week.