Christian McCaffrey played the most snaps of any running back in the NFL last season, which led the Panthers to talk about cutting back on his snaps at various points in the offseason.
Through two games, that’s been all talk and no action. McCaffrey has played all 146 offensive snaps that Carolina has taken over the first two weeks of the season.
McCaffrey had 29 touches against the Rams in the season-opening loss and 18 in Thursday night’s 20-14 loss to the Buccaneers. That puts him on pace for 376 touches over the entire season, which is up from last year and in line with offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s vow not to “minimize” McCaffrey’s workload.
Turner and head coach Ron Rivera also said that the team needs to get others on the field to spell McCaffrey, however, and the Panthers haven’t found that person yet. Jordan Scarlett played five snaps alongside McCaffrey in the opener, but the team has otherwise avoided using other tailbacks in the opening stages of the 2019 season.