Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 14: Run-first approach could aid Cam Newton

Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton’s 2021 season is as up and down as a rollercoaster. Since his second stint with the team that drafted him, Newton is 1-2 for the team. Now coming off a bye week, fantasy managers wondering if they can count on Cam Newton to be fantasy relevant should consider what his role will be and how the remaining matchups look for him moving forward.

Newton triumphantly returned to the Panthers in Week 10 against the Arizona Cardinals and led Carolina to a 34-10 win. He made an immediate impact coming off the bench by tossing 1 touchdown and running for another. The next week, against the Washington Football Team and his former coach, Ron Rivera, Newton completed 21 out of 27 passes with 2 touchdowns through the air and 1 on the ground. The Panthers lost 21-27, but the game looked promising for Cam Newton.

Week 12 was the exact opposite as Newton only completed 5 out of 21 pass attempts and threw 2 interceptions against the Miami Dolphins. The coach benched him, and Panthers fans and fantasy managers everywhere wondered what will be next for Newton.

Fantasy Football: Cam Newton is a sleeper candidate for Week 14

With star runningback Christian McCaffrey out for the rest of the season, the Panthers will have to rely more on Cam Newton’s legs. If that is the case, Newton will return to fantasy relevance as running quarterbacks are a running cheat code in fantasy football.

Additionally, the Carolina Panthers made a significant coaching change during the bye week by releasing offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady, who had not previously worked with head coach Matt Rhule, will be replaced by Jeff Nixon, who was Rhule’s offensive coordinator at Baylor University.

The shift in coaches and Rhule’s insistence that Cam Newton will remain the starter might be enough to return the Panthers and Newton to the win column. The team has a talented pair of wideouts in D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson, and the investment in Moore, Anderson, and Newton’s salary suggests that the Panthers will try to make this work.

The last four games on the slate for the Carolina Panthers include the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14, the Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the New Orleans Saints in Week 17, the fantasy football championship weekend. The Bills and Buccaneers will be tough matchups, but potentially negative game scripts might favor the Panthers and their usage of Newton. As long as he has goalline opportunities, Cam Newton will return value as a fantasy quarterback for managers who took a chance on him.

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