The Carolina Panthers parted ways with two pretty notable names from their offense before Sunday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So, how do they plan on filling those voids for the rest of the season?
Let’s run down the most intriguing snap counts from Week 7 and analyze their early approach.
A new backfield
Christian McCaffrey, who accounted for over 77 percent of the team’s scrimmage yards in his final game in Carolina, basically was the Panthers offense. But now, he’s a San Francisco 49er.
In his place was the tandem of D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard, who combined for a whopping 181 yards and a touchdown against a stout Tampa Bay run defense. Foreman, partly thanks to a late-game injury to Hubbard, got the lion’s share—recording 15 carries to his backfield mate’s nine and 27 offensive snaps to 23.
As long as Hubbard’s injury isn’t a long-term one, which was the feeling coming out of Sunday, expect the work to be just about even between the two moving forward. Otherwise, in-game factors such as tempo, rhythm and situation will decide the rest.
A new center
Center Bradley Bozeman was also the next man up at his spot. He’ll be filling in for Pat Elflein, who was placed on injured reserve a day before the game and will miss at least a total of four games.
In Elflein’s first absence, Bozeman stepped forward with, perhaps, the best outing from any center all season. The fifth-year hog molly earned Pro Football Focus’ highest single-game grade for any player at his position in 2022.
He played in each of the offense’s 50 snaps and was charged with just one pressure over 24 pass-blocking attempts.
Wide open?
With Robbie Anderson gone, is it finally time for Terrace Marshall Jr. to assume a larger role in the offense? Well, that seemed to be the case in this one.
The second-year wideout’s 86-percent snap share was the highest of his career. He turned his 43 plays into two receptions for 31 yards—the second-highest receiving mark for Carolina on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Shi Smith picked up 25 snaps, Laviska Shenault Jr. saw two and Rashard Higgins was left out of the fold for the fifth time this season.
