What to Expect in the Panthers' Offense with Christian McCaffrey Sidelined

Here we are again.

The Panthers are expected to be without running back Christian McCaffrey for at least a couple of weeks after he injured his hamstring in last Thursday night's win over the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the Panthers have some experience running their offense without McCaffrey considering they only had him for three games in 2020.

When head coach Matt Rhule was asked about how different the offense is without him in the lineup before the season opener against New York, he jokingly said, "it's really the only offense I know." Mike Davis filled in for McCaffrey last season and did a fairly good job. The big difference with the running back room this year is the depth behind McCaffrey. Last year, it was Mike Davis and a bunch of unproven guys trying to stick on the roster such as Reggie Bonnafon, Trenton Cannon, and Rodney Smith.

Carolina addressed the lack of depth by drafting Oklahoma State's Chuba Hubbard in the 4th round of the draft and then added veteran Royce Freeman just days before the start of the season.

There is no question about Hubbard's ability to run the football but he isn't nearly as polished in pass protection or catching the ball out of the backfield. This is going to be a big opportunity for Hubbard to prove he's more than capable than just running the football. He'll see the majority of the touches out of the backfield while Freeman will get a few looks here and there but will mainly be used in pass protection.

"Yeah, I think they just have to be starting NFL running backs," Matt Rhule said following the win in Houston. "Royce has done that before. I told Chuba at halftime, That's why we drafted you, man. I thought Chuba was outstanding. At the end of the half, we didn't give him a ton of chances, but I thought he got in there at the end and made some key runs. When we can line up in four-minute offense and run and get the first down on two plays, especially versus that stout defense, that's a credit to the offensive line, credit to the tight ends and fullbacks. I thought those backs hit it, and the minute Royce got in he made that nice run, cut the ball back on a dual play, which that's a veteran-run. That's a guy that's played a bunch and saw it. Those guys stepped up for us.”

Aside from the running game, the Panthers will also get guys like tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas more involved. With Dan Arnold being traded to Jacksonville earlier in the week, this opens up the door for Tremble to be a jack of all trades type of player on the offensive side of the ball. Wide receiver Robby Anderson has been a bit underwhelming in the first three games of the season but it's not because he isn't getting open, at least according to Rhule.

"We have to get Robby going on offense. Against the Saints, we had a couple of deep shots to him that we didn't quite connect on. If you watch the tape, he's open quite a bit and the ball is not getting to him and the ball is being spread out to a lot of different people. I think as a coaching staff we have to emphasize it. He's too good of a player to not be affecting the game. It's not like he's not open. So whether that's us designing a couple of things. Whether that's him just working on where Sam is knowing where he is going to be, I don't know those answers. I'm going in every week saying let's make sure we get Robby really involved. I want us to be this five-headed monster that people can't take away because this guy is there and this guy is here. It hasn't quite clicked yet but I do believe it will come."

Losing a player of McCaffrey's caliber for multiple weeks would hurt many offenses. Fortunately for Carolina, they have the weapons to still put up points and the injury should help guys like Robby Anderson, Tommy Tremble, and Chuba Hubbard get in a groove. In terms of the playcalling, not much will change as offensive coordinator Joe Brady will still strive for a balanced attack.

"Football goes on so you're going to have to find a way of what your guys do well and that's why we have a vision for every player on our offense," Brady said. "You're not really forced to get creative necessarily. You just have to sit there and say hey, what do these guys do well? Regardless of whether we started the season with the same 11 starters. At the end of the day, 11 starters are always going to be out there. As a play-caller, you have to trust that those guys are NFL football players and that they're here for a reason. I have confidence in whoever is out there on the field."

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