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For all intents and purposes, the Panthers haven't had the real Cam Newton for a couple of weeks now. But according to Ian Rapoport, they won't even have the threat of Newton the last two weeks of the season. The Panthers are expected to sit Newton, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury that has looked increasingly limiting, beginning in Week 16 against the Falcons (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, available on fuboTV).
Obviously, the Newton owner who somehow advanced to this point of the Fantasy season is in a very bad spot. The very best options you could find on the waiver wire are Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott. Both quarterbacks have great matchups at home and should be solid No. 1 options. If both Mayfield and Prescott are gone, I'd go to Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen, especially in a league that rewards four points per pass TD.
The more intriguing question is what this does to the rest of the Panthers. Their new starting quarterback is Taylor Heinicke, a young man who has only attempted five passes in the NFL. Heinicke was signed by the Vikings in 2015 as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion. The Panthers are his fourth team in four years. This is an enormous downgrade from the best version of Newton and maybe even a downgrade from the recent version.
Heinicke is an athletic quarterback — he ran a 4.67 40-yard dash — so the run game should remain much the same as it was. He had some success in the preseason as a passer, but I wouldn't expect much at all from him in that phase of the game. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel drop from high-end flex options to desperation plays at best. Ian Thomas remains a streaming option, but the one thing we look for from tight ends is scoring opportunities, and I'd expect the Panthers will struggle scoring points, even against Atlanta.
The bottom line for the Panthers? Start Christian McCaffrey, and do your best to avoid everyone else. The Atlanta Falcons now become an excellent option as a streaming defense once again.
