Taylor Heinicke

Panthers QB Cam Newton (right shoulder, out) missed practice all week and is out for Week 16. The Panthers have decided to shut Newton down for the season. Taylor Heinicke will draw the start, but the Old Dominion product is largely an unknown from an NFL standpoint. In the preseason, he completed 24 of 36 passes for 323 yards (9.0 YPA) and two touchdowns against one interception. He also rushed five times for 23 yards and a score. That 7.2 pass-to-rush ratio would fall between Jameis Winston (6.9) and Blake Bortles (7.4) this year, so Heinicke can add points with his legs. He’s obviously a risky start, but there’s some upside here due to the competence he showed in the preseason and his home matchup against the Falcons, who are No. 30 in QB aFPA. Consider this news a slight downgrade for the entire offense, though we weren’t expecting Newton to tear it up this week given his shoulder. John Paulsen watched Heinicke’s preseason throws and runs and came away fairly impressed. He showed some fast feet, threw a couple of darts downfield and his sole interception was not his fault.