Panthers Fantasy Football Outlook for Week 10: Should You Start Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard, Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo and More?
Week 10 is nearly here, so it’s time to get your fantasy lineups locked in.
The week opens with a lackluster matchup between the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears. While the teams have combined for three wins this season, there’s still some decent fantasy options playing in the contest.
Let’s take a look at each team’s best starting options, beginning with the Panthers.
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Bryce Young Fantasy Outlook
Young was the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft after the Panthers made a trade with the Bears for that selection. The rookie quarterback has not put it all together yet, and is coming off probably his worst game yet.
Young completed 24 of his 39 passes last week for 173 yards and a touchdown, but he was picked off three times. He was also sacked four times. Young did have his best rushing game, going for 41 yards on five runs.
The youngster doesn’t have over 250 passing yards in a contest year, and only has one game with multiple touchdown passes. He’s thrown interceptions in three games, but had eight total in those matchups.
Maybe a matchup with the Bears can get Young going, as Chicago is the worst defense in slowing opposing quarterbacks. The Bears allow quarterbacks to throw for nearly 265 yards a contest. QBs have thrown for 20 touchdowns and six interceptions, while also rushing for about 15 yards a contest.
The projections still don’t like Young, as he’s ranked 20th at the position.
Running Back Fantasy Outlook
Chuba Hubbard has seized the lead back role in Carolina after Miles Sanders had it at the start of the season. Hubbard has 37 touches over the past two games, while Sanders has only 11. For the season, Hubbard is up to 104 touches, while Sanders has 87.
Hubbard has rushed 85 times for 328 yards and a touchdown. He’s added 94 receiving yards on 19 catches and 23 targets.
Sanders has attempted 69 runs, going for 229 yards and a touchdown. He’s caught 18 of the 29 passes thrown his way for 103 yards.
Raheem Blackshear is the team’s third option. He’s gotten 13 touches over the past three weeks.
It’s a favorable matchup for the running backs, as Chicago allows 25 fantasy points per game. Opposing backs average only 63 rushing yards, but average a league-high 64 receiving yards. Backs have scored nine total touchdowns, so an average of one a week.
Wide Receiver Fantasy Outlook
Adam Thielen has enjoyed a really strong first season with the Panthers and is dominating most pass-catching statistics.
Thielen is the leader in targets (76), receptions (62), yards (610), touchdowns (4), snaps (519), red zone catches (7) and red zone targets (11). He’s topped 50 receiving yards in all but two games and has three games over 100 yards.
Thielen is coming off a down week, when he caught 5-of-6 targets for 29 yards. It was the second least amount of targets for him so far this season.
D.J. Chark has been the second-most productive fantasy receiver for the Panthers. He’s dealing with an elbow injury, so his status will be one to watch as the game nears.
Chark has caught half of his 34 targets on the season for 229 yards and three touchdowns. He’s hauled in half of his four red zone looks. Chark has seen his targets dip from six to four to three over the past three games.
If Chark can’t play, the stock of Thielen will get boosted. Jonathan Mingo and Terrace Marshall should also benefit.
Mingo has hauled in 20-of-38 targets for 200 yards, but hasn’t scored or even caught a red zone target yet. Marshall has 17 grabs on 29 targets, going for 123 yards but no scores.
The Bears’ defense has been average against opposing receivers, allowing 34 fantasy points per contest. Wideouts are averaging 147 yards and over a score a contest.
Tight End Fantasy Outlook
Hayden Hurst and Tommy Tremble have been the Panthers’ top fantasy tight ends this season, but their numbers don’t really jump out.
Hurst has played 303 offensive snaps, while Tremble is at 192. Hurst has five red zone targets, while Tremble has two.
It’s another favorable matchup, as the Bears’ defense allows opposing tight ends to score 14 fantasy points per week. Tight ends average 51 yards on six catches and have scored four times.
Neither Carolina tight end cracks the top 22 in our projections. Hurst is projected at 4.7 fantasy points, while Tremble sits at 2.9 points.
Kicker and Defense Outlook
Eddy Pineiro does the kicking for the Panthers. He’s been solid so far, with three missed kicks in total.
Pineiro has knocked in 14 of his 16 field goal attempts, missing from beyond 40 yards on both occasions. He’s missed once on 13 extra point attempts.
The Panthers’ defense allows 310 yards per game, which is one of the better numbers in the league so far. They are top five in passing yards allowed (178.3) but fifth worst in rushing yards allowed (131.8). Carolina is tied with Denver for most points allowed (28.3), which isn’t a team you want to be tied with after the Broncos allowed 70 points to the Miami Dolphins earlier in the season.
Carolina only has seven takeaways for the season. They should have some opportunities to improve those numbers, as Chicago has the most giveaways (18). Bears’ quarterbacks have been sacked 30 times, while the Panthers have just 17 sacks.
Pineiro is the 23rd-ranked kicker in our projections, while the Panthers’ defense ranks 22nd.
Who to Start in Week 10
There’s a lot of favorable matchups anytime you face the Bears, so that makes several Carolina players at least in start/sit conversations.
Young hasn’t put the pieces together so far this season, but he’s got the best matchup on paper in the entire league. I wouldn’t feel super confident about starting Young in week 10, but if you are streaming your starter, Young is one of the best options out there. I’m sure he’ll be in start/sit stories of ours this week, so check back for those.
I like Hubbard a bunch this week. Carolina can take some of the pressure off Young by leaning on Hubbard, so I think the back is destined for a big-time showing. I also think that Sanders will play a decent amount, so he could be worth a start in deeper leagues. Blackshear can be avoided in all formats, unless one of the top-two backs were to miss the game for some reason.
Thielen is the only Panthers’ receiver I’m comfortable starting this week in standard leagues. Much of that has to do with Chark’s injury status. I’d only start Chark, Mingo and Marshall (in that order) in deeper leagues, with Marshall getting benched if Chark plays.
I’d love to start Hurst this week, but he just hasn’t consistently produced enough to feel super confident in making that move. He can be part of your start conversation, and much like in the case of Young, if you are streaming a starter, Hurst is a pretty decent option. I’d try to avoid him in standard leagues. Hurst and Tremble I’d consider more in deeper leagues, but only feel decent about Hurst.
Pineiro isn’t one of the top fantasy options, and I wouldn’t go out of your way to add him. This has the makings of an ugly offensive game, so while he’ll likely get a couple field goal attempts, his few misses this season are enough to avoid him if you can.
The Bears’ offense isn’t all that good, but the Panthers’ defense has also struggled, so I’d avoid them too if you can. They could finish as a top 12 defense by the time the week ends if they can create some turnovers, but I’d try my chances with another defense that plays later in the week.
