The Buccaneers have a new head coach in Bruce Arians. Whether or not he can fix Jameis Winston’s turnover habit, Arians is one of the top offensive minds in the league right now. That means much like Sean McVay, he knows how dangerous Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey is.
Ahead of tonight’s Week 2 matchup, Arians told Tiffany Blackmon at NFL Network that McCaffrey is Carolina’s best player.
The starting quarterback is always the most important player on any roster and the Panthers will only go as far as Cam Newton carries them, as usual.
That being said, there’s a strong argument to make that McCaffrey has become a better running back than Cam is a quarterback. Arians is just a little off the mark, though. Inside linebacker Luke Kuechly still plays his position at a higher level than any other Carolina player does theirs, but McCaffrey is probably a strong second at this point.
The Bucs know as well as anyone how hard it can be to stop him. Here’s a look at what McCaffrey did in their two meetings last season:
11/4/18: 17 carries, 79 rushing yards, 5 catches, 78 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns
12/2/18: 10 carries, 106 rushing yards, 9 catches, 55 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
Adjust your lineups accordingly.
