Getty Images Devin Funchess celebrating a first down.
The Carolina Panthers won’t take a big hit to their offense without wide receiver Devin Funchess during Week 13, as they initially expected to. With Funchess missing a good chunk of practice this week, Carolina was unsure if he was going to be fit enough to play this week as he is dealing with a back injury.
Fortunately for the Panthers and the Funchess fantasy owners, the Panthers wide receiver is getting to the green light to play on Sunday. There’s only one slight problem though – He is going to be limited in his role on Sunday. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Panthers plan to ease Funchess back into his position with the team during Week 13.
Early on in the season, Funchess and Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was building up solid chemistry in the passing game that increased Funchess’ value in fantasy. But with the emergence of the rookie wideout DJ Moore, along with their ‘do-it-all’ back, Christian McCaffrey, the role for Devin Funchess hasn’t been very beneficial for fantasy squads. And with Funchess being on a known restriction for Week 13, it’s apparent that playing him will issue a substantial risk, with minimal upside.
Fading Funchess for Week 13?
Funchess has caught 41 of his 68 targeted passes on the year. With 516 yards and three touchdowns, the veteran wideout lands third on the Panthers stat sheet for the receiving game. Despite having more touchdowns than Moor in the air, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen tends to eat into Funchess’ and Moore’s scoring production as he has totaled for four touchdowns on the year.
None of the wideouts and tight ends have been in Funchess’ way though. As long as Christian McCaffrey is on the Panthers offense, it’s going to be hard to trust anybody else on the Carolina offense. Unless there is a Cam Newton-McCaffrey stack, it may not be worth much in standard leagues and daily fantasy. Especially for this week.
For those who are in deeper leagues, or intended on playing Funchess for DFS, it’s best to avoid him for at least this week. Being in a known limited role as the third-most productive wideout on the team shouldn’t really convince anybody that Funchess is worth a play in your lineups this week. This shouldn’t be a long-term concern, but don’t take the risk of playing Funchess this week. There’s hardly any upside to it.