Carolina Panthers DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton finished Sunday's loss to the Bengals by throwing for 220 yards, two touchdowns, and one pick off 25-for-40 passing. He added three carries for nine yards. The veteran signal-called has played well since taking over for Bryce Young. The offense has also operated more efficiently. While things could change regarding the Panthers' quarterback plans, Dalton has earned a spot in multi-quarterback formats for the Week 5 clash with the Chicago Bears, assuming he remains under center.

Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle tallied a season-high 46 yards on 11 carries and added 15 yards and a score on one catch in Thursday's victory over the New York Giants. Dowdle found the end zone for the first time this season on a screen pass just inside the red zone. Dowdle was also given a majority of the running back snaps on Thursday as he saw 24 compared to Ezekiel Elliott's nine. Elliott saw only five attempts and tallied just 19 yards. Both running backs typically split opportunities over the opening games of the season, but it looks like Dowdle is beginning to establish himself as the leader of this backfield. Despite his modest output on the ground, fantasy managers should still view Dowdle as an RB3/flex play with upside heading into Week 5.

Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble is sharing time with rookie Ja'Tavion Sanders but emerged as the primary tight end on the team in Week 3, seeing more snaps and out-targeting Sanders. Tremble finished Week 3's win over the Raiders with three catches for 29 yards on three targets. The Notre Dame product is fully recovered from a hamstring injury that caused him to miss Week 1. However, with running back Chuba Hubbard garnering a large workload in the backfield and receiver Diontae Johnson commanding a big target share, Tremble isn't a big piece of the offensive pie at the moment. That makes him touchdown-dependent for fantasy purposes and thus a risky play in Week 4 at the position. Until he shows more, Tremble should be left on the waiver wire in most leagues.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette should be more involved in the offense this week with Adam Thielen (hamstring) on IR. The rookie out of South Carolina has 10 targets on the season but is expected to slot into the No. 2 receiver role with Thielen sidelined. The talented receiver should be a nice secondary target for Dalton this week against the Bengals with Diontae Johnson (groin) serving as the top option. Johnson missed practice Thursday and is questionable but is expected to practice Friday. If he is out, Legette would have a much larger role in the offense. The Panthers offense suddenly looks viable for fantasy purposes with Dalton as the QB and Legette could benefit from that in Week 4.

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard had his best game of the year in Week 3 with Andy Dalton under center. In the team's win over the Raiders, Hubbard carried 21 times for 114 yards and caught five passes for 55 yards with a receiving touchdown. With a favorable game script for the first time this season, Hubbard turned in a dominant fantasy day. The versatile running back popped up on the injury report as a limited practice participant on Wednesday but it was listed as non-football related/rest. Without knowing the flow of the game this week, it is tough to predict 26 touches for Hubbard but he is dominating touches in the Panthers' backfield at the moment and fantasy managers will want to ride his hot hand in the Week 4 matchup against the Bengals. Hubbard looks like a really solid RB2 this week with a lot of upside in this matchup.