Fantasy speaking, the Panthers have never had very strong fantasy players, with the exception of Steve Smith in 2005. Now with Carolina’s revamped offensive line, potentially strong running game, and additional targets for Jake Delhomme, what is the Panther’s fantasy value?

Conventional wisdom would say that Steve Smith is the best fantasy player on the Panthers roster, and should be a third round value in your fantasy league, but I think Jake Delhomme has more fantasy value. Delhomme, who got off to the best start of his career last season, was actually the number three rated quarterback in the league for the first three games. Now, Delhomme not only has a weapon in Steve Smith, but also in Moose, D. J. Hackett, and Jeff King, targets which should boost his numbers even more. Not only will Delhomme have more weapons, but he should have a good running game behind him, which means Delhomme will be able to use play action more. This allows him to read the defenses much easier, and make better decisions on where he wants to throw the ball.

Obviously Steve Smith has great fantasy value as well, but you might be able to grab him in the later round because of the year Smith had last year. With only 1,002 receiving yards last year, Smith has fallen under the fantasy radar, but people also forget that he was being thrown to by Vinny Testaverde and David Carr. Smith is one of the best receivers in the league, when he is being thrown to by Jake Delhomme.

The next best guy to draft on the Panthers would have to be first round selection Jonathan Stewart. Yes, Stewart is going to have to share time with DeAngelo Williams, but Stewart is the one who will be used in the Panthers red zone situations, and should have a decent amount of touchdowns, just because he is going to be the guy Carolina will look to to punch the ball into the endzone on 3rd and 1.

Outside of these three guys, you’re looking at Williams, Hackett, and King to possibly perform as well as the defense. Even now, the Panthers defense doesn’t look that solid from a fantasy perspective, mainly due to the shape of the defensive line. It’s possible that the strong linebacking corps could pickup the slack from the line, but it’s a risk. One other note, Julius Peppers has shown signs that he’s back to his usual self, and I would bet that he’s going to have a career defining year, especially because of what Peppers’ opponent in practice, Jordan Gross, has said about Peppers play.

Tags: carolina panthers, fantasy outlook, steve smith