Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 3

The ball skills that made Jahan Dotson a 2022 first-round pick by the Washington Commanders are showing up more in his first full training camp in Philly. Among the signs, Dotson hauled in a contested catch on Tuesday against rookie cornerback Mac McWilliams along the right sideline. There’s a growing sense that Dotson could contribute more than the 19 catches for 216 yards that he fielded on short notice last season.

“I’ve always had a lot of confidence in Jahan,” Eagles wide receiver coach Aaron Moorehead said. “We really liked him coming out (of the draft) and was super excited when Howie traded for him last year and just thought that he adds a great dimension to the offense as a third guy."

Related players: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Johnny Wilson, Ainias Smith, Terrace Marshall, Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goedert

There isn't much behind Brown and Smith, of course besides Barkley, as a pass-catching threat. Goedert has been good at times, but is 30-years-old, and the Eagles haven't traditionally got a lot from their WR3 over the years. So, it's certainly possible Dotson has a bigger role, especially of Goedert starts to show some age at the TE position. Dotson isn't getting drafted in most leagues so he should be around very late in drafts if you want to take a chance.

The arrival of No. 8 pick Tetairoa McMillan should take some pressure off Xavier Legette, whom the Panthers traded up to take at No. 32 in 2024. It’s not like Legette was a total bust: The 6-foot-3, 227-pounder caught 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns. But as Bryce Young develops and McMillan draws coverage his way, Legette’s production should increase this season. — Joseph Person

Legette shouldn't be a highly-sought pick in upcoming drafts this summer, so maybe he's worth taking a shot on toward the end of your draft. The story added Legette wasn’t a full-time starter until his fifth season at South Carolina. So there were naturally growing pains for Legette, whose eight drops — including one on Young’s potential game-winning touchdown pass at Philadelphia — put him among the leaders in that category, the story pointed out.

Panthers placed RB Jonathon Brooks on the physically unable to perform list, meaning he now will be out for the 2025 season.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Trevor Etienne

With the additions of Dowdle and Etienne (fourth round), this was a distinct possibility, and now the move has been made quite early in the post-Draft season. Brooks will be a tough gamble for 2026, but here's hoping for a full recovery for the young back.

The Panthers have agreed to a 1-year deal with RB Rico Dowdle, per league source.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard

Carolina recently released Miles Sanders, so Dowdle should operate as an upgrade over the veteran. This is a much bigger hit to Hubbard's fantasy ceiling than Sanders functioned as last season, but it's not the best spot for Dowdle's fantasy aspirations, either.

If there are no more additions to the backfield, we should consider Hubbard a low-end RB2 and Dowdle a fringe RB3/4.

Former Broncos RB Javonte Williams is signing a one-year, $3 million deal with the Cowboys, per sources. Max $3.5M with incentives.

Related Players: Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

This likely means that Dowdle will be out of the picture, but his re-signing is still up in the air as it stands. The Cowboys are still (very) likely to grab a running back with decent draft capital, so Williams' fantasy impact is capped, but he can be considered somewhere in the RB3/4 range with good opportunity to open the year.

The Panthers are placing running back Chuba Hubbard (calf/knee) on injured reserve.

With only two weeks left in the season, this obviously ends Hubbard’s season. At 4-11, the Panthers are looking ahead to next season and protecting their big-money running back. Raheem Blackshear and Velus Jones are next up on the depth chart. Jonathan Brooks also landed on injured reserve a few weeks ago after re-tearing his ACL in Week 14 against the Eagles.

Panthers WR Xavier Legette will be week to week the rest of the season with a groin injury.

Coach Dave Canales said Legette is likely to be out this week, and the week to week tag for the rest of the season doesn't really bode well for him or his fantasy owners. Legette hasn't been a solid fantasy play anyway but for those using him in deeper leagues you may be without him for the rest of this year.

Starting in Washington, this is now his third straight week Rico Dowdle taking 70%+ of the carries.

Related players: Ezekiel Elliott, Deuce Vaughn, Dalvin Cook

The post went on to say Dowdle was averaging 48% of the Cowboys' carries over the course of his first nine games. Pittsburgh was the only week he got more than 57% of the team's carries. We did report, even starting back in summer, that Dowdle was the best RB on the team according to those who cover the Cowboys. Unfortunately for owners, it took some time for Dowdle to become the clear RB1, but for those who own him heading into the playoffs, this is a comforting stat to know. The next question will be what is Dowdle's future with the Cowboys. With so many needs and questions heading into 2025, it's possible Dowdle is back as an overall inexpensive option.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales gave an update on running back Jonathon Brooks’s knee injury at his Monday press conference and it was not a positive one.

Canales said that Brooks tore the ACL in his right knee during Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Eagles. Brooks tore the same ACL during his final season at Texas and the second-round pick was playing in his third game after being activated from the non-football injury list.

Related players: Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders, Raheem Blackshear, Mike Boone

It's a terrible outcome for what many considered the top RB back at the NFL Draft. Brooks will look to be back before the start of next season, but given how careful the Panthers were with Brooks coming into this season, one can assume they will take a similar path. As the story said, Hubbard went over 1,000 yards against the Eagles, and with Sanders already injured and Blackshear injured during the game, Hubbard was forced to carry the load. He should continue to do so for the rest of the season. The team has Boone on the practice squad, but will likely need to make anther move at the position.

Ja'Tavion Sanders is ready to go Sunday. Jadeveon Clowney should play too, per Canales.

Related Players: Tommy Tremble

Great news for the rookie, but it does muck up a pretty great situation for TE streaming purposes. Tremble was an interesting target in deep leagues, but the two will likely cap the fantasy aspirations of the other. Keep Sanders in mind for a nice matchup against the Cowboys in Week 15.