Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers running back Miles Sanders kept his balance on a hard hit at training camp and finished out his run. Sanders proceeded to point to the media members and said, "All y'all been talking on me, I got something for you!". Sanders is coming off a season in which he, indeed, did not have anything for us. Quarterback Bryce Young added that Sanders has a game mentality in training camp. After a breakout campaign with the Eagles in 2022, Sanders finished 2023 with 432 rushing yards and one touchdown. To make matters worse, Sanders signed a four-year $25 million contract with the Panthers ahead of the 2023 season. By season's end, he had ceded his job to Chuba Hubbard. The Panthers drafted Jonathon Brooks (knee) in the second round of April's draft. Unless Sanders can play much better in 2023, this backfield projects to belong to Brooks by season's end. Even so, keep an eye on Sanders through the camp to see if extra motivation can squeeze some production out of him, especially with Brooks on the active/Non-Football injury list as he is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in college.

Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (hamstring) is being held out of training camp practices due to hamstring tightness. It doesn't appear to be a serious injury for Tremble, but the Panthers are being cautious early in camp. As long as the 24-year-old tight end doesn't suffer a setback with his hamstring when he returns to the field, he should be fine for the start of the 2024 regular season. The former third-round pick in 2021 out of Notre Dame set a new career-high in receptions (23) and receiving yards (194) on 32 targets while scoring three touchdowns in 16 games (eight starts) for the second straight year. Carolina's offense was dreadful in 2023 under rookie quarterback Bryce Young, but even if they show improvement in 2024, Tremble is unlikely to be very attractive in fantasy as he competes for targets with rookie Ja'Tavion Sanders and Ian Thomas.

The Carolina Panthers have agreed to terms on a deal with wide receiver Devin Thompkins. The 24-year-old spent the first two seasons of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was waived by the team in late May after finishing with 22 receptions in 22 games with the team. Thompkins was often times used as the No. 4 or even 5th option on the depth chart. He didn't get a ton of chances, so maybe he'll see an increased workload in Carolina. He'll rejoin coach Dave Canales who was with the Bucs last season. Maybe Canales can unlock something we haven't seen from Thompkins.

The Carolina Panthers placed running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) on the Active/NFI list on Friday night. The rookie, who suffered a torn ACL in November while with his collegiate squad, can be activated at any time. However, he will be forced to miss the first four contests if he isn't cleared to play before the 2024-25 campaign starts. Brooks, the No. 46 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, began his career behind Bijan Robinson at Texas. But after taking over as the lead option in 2023, he ran for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns off 187 touches, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. At any rate, Brooks will likely be brought along slowly once he's healthy enough to return to the field. Although he could work his way to the top of the depth chart at some point, he may not make an immediate impact for fantasy managers.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen feels he has more to prove to himself despite being in the NFL for over a decade. "I talk to the young guys about this all the time, is no matter who you are, no matter how old you are, no matter how many years you've been in the league, you have something to prove," Thielen said in an interview. "You have to have that mindset every single day." The 33-year-old is coming off a productive season, amassing his first 1,000-yard receiving campaign since 2018 while finding the end zone four times. Although the Panthers have a lot of question marks regarding the offense, it appears Thielen is not ready to stop being a reliable fantasy asset anytime soon.