Before we get started, we have to take this entire article with a grain of salt. Obviously there is no way that anybody on the Carolina Panthers roster is going to step into CMC’s role and replicate the numbers that made him the No. 1 overall pick in fantasy leagues this year. It’s just not going to happen. But, can someone step into the RB1 role and perhaps perform just enough to be a weekly flex play hold over until McCaffrey comes back? I think Mike Davis might be able to pull that off.
Chances are, if you have McCaffrey in your league, then you were picking from the one spot and therefore, may or may not be lacking other bell-cows on your roster. Hopefully, if you listened to Wolf, then you stacked up on RBs. But if you have a gaping hole in your RB stable, then you must consider Davis.
The journeyman was on the field for 25 snaps yesterday. With those snaps, he ran 17 routes while also getting a carry. Surprisingly, he caught all eight of his targets for 74 yards. We can gloss over the one rushing yard for now, because the receiving PPR upside is what we’ll be chasing here.
McCaffrey’s receiving numbers and versatile skill-set are what put him in God Tier of fantasy football. He hadn’t produced on that kind of level in either week of the 2020 NFL season, but somehow this creature Mike Davis managed to rack up 8 catches in McCaffrey’s absense. He also recorded the highest pass-catching grade on the Panthers in Week 2, according to PFF.
Even better, the Panthers fell behind for a second-straight week, which allowed for a fantastic pass-happy game script. Carolina figures to have many similar game scripts this year, so I love the chances of Davis to rack up nearly double-digit fantasy points each week on receiving numbers alone with those lovely dump-offs from Bridgewater.
Where it gets tricky is the rushing portion of his game. One carry is not great, but when you look at Carolina’s ground game, it had been pretty much all McCaffrey (as it should be). Curtis Samuel managed four carries on the day, but there’s no way the team will give Samuel 15+ rushes every game when he’s their preferred slot receiver. The only other competition would be fullback Alex Armah, but he’s going to end up being the occasional goal line vulture.
With no other legit backfield competition outside of Trenton Cannon and potentially Reggie Bonnafon off the practice squad, I could easily see 10-plus carries every game for Davis, with a handful of receiving work. Double-digit fantasy points every week in PPR/half PPR leagues is not out of the question, and in dire situations when you’re putting CMC into your IR slot, I think Davis can be a serviceable flex back to hold you over until our lord and savior returns to action.
