Christian McCaffrey went down with an ankle injury in Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers. That’s awful news, and I hope he gets better soon. It sounds like McCaffrey will miss four-to-six weeks with the injury.
Source: #Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is out 4-6 weeks with a high-ankle sprain. This is following his MRI. Brutal news.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 21, 2020
While his injury might be frustrating for you if you landed him with the first overall pick, trust me, it’s much more painful for him. We in the fantasy community can get carried away with how injuries, bad performances, off-field incidents affect our rosters, so to me, we must appreciate players like McCaffrey for putting their bodies on the line every week. Our spreadsheet game is inherently less important than another person’s health.
So as we wish McCaffrey a speedy recovery, let’s dig into the fantasy value of his backup, Mike Davis.
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Player Profile
Davis is a sixth-year veteran on his fourth NFL team. He played for the 49ers, Seahawks, and Bears before landing in Carolina. Davis’ best season came in 2018; back then, he took over for an injured Chris Carson and logged workhorse-level carries until his return. His performance earned him a $6 million contract with the Bears in 2019, only for the team to release him part of the way through the season.
His limited games as a high-volume option give us some insight into Davis as a player. From Week 4 to Week 10, he logged 75 carries for 343 yards and scored three times; in the passing game, he totaled 19 receptions for 104 yards and a score. That was all good enough for 14.61 points per game in PPR formats.
At five-foot-nine and 220 pounds, Davis is a bruiser out of the backfield. That said, he slimmed down a bit for the Panthers in the offseason, and he flashed some decent athleticism after McCaffrey went down.
Mike Davis nabs the first down!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/KworZ41lU5
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 20, 2020
Not bad, Davis. He ended up with only one carry for one yard on the day, but the Panthers were down big by the time he came in, and he added 74 yards on eight catches as well.
State of the Offense
McCaffrey is the heart and soul of Carolina’s offense. In Week 1, he earned 26 of 52 possible touches, good for exactly 50 percent. And despite missing the back half of this game, he totaled 22 touches, good for 38.6 percent.
As a result, Davis is in line for a ton of touches. He’s the clear-cut RB2, as the Panthers’ other options include Trenton Cannon and practice squad member Reggie Bonnafon.
That said, the Panthers should to more than just Davis while McCaffrey recovers. Curtis Samuel should see some work out of the backfield, and Joe Brady should up Teddy Bridgewater‘s total number of passing attempts.
Davis’ Outlook
Davis looks like a high-end flex option. He’s proven that he can have fantasy value regardless of the game script — he balled out as a runner for Seattle, and he just popped off as a receiver for the Panthers. He’ll need both, as the Panthers probably don’t have the defensive capacity to limit opposing offenses.
Carolina draws some mid-pack defenses over the next few weeks, as they’ll visit the Chargers, play the Cardinals at home, and visit the Falcons. All of their rushing defenses rank between 15th and 20th, per FootballOutsiders, so matchups won’t be an issue for Davis.
So if you need a running back, perhaps because you lost McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley, Davis will make a great high-priority addition to your lineup. Of course, he’s just a stop-gap until McCaffrey returns, but he should see more than enough volume to be a viable option until then.
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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.
