Anyone else concerned/disappointed with the lack of touches for the backup RBs and CMC's sustained workload?

[TylerDurden]

Idk, I thought under Rhule/Brady, we would see less of a burden on CMC and more variety with snap distribution among the RBs.  It was hard to glean anything from last season bc CMC barely played, but then they came out and said his workload would be lessened going into this season.  Then they also made a big deal about drafting Chubba...  then we claimed Royce Freeman off waivers, who also has a lot of promise.  And then Week 1 happened, and CMC was almost the entirety of the offense, and I only recall him missing 2 or 3 snaps.

Now, I know CMC is our most versatile weapon and is an absolute superstar, but the way  we're using him just doesn't seem like a sustainable model to me.  And at the end of the day, no matter how uniquely talented he is, he still primarily plays RB and running your offense through RBs is a fairly prehistoric notion.  Now, CMC's ability as a receiver ensures he can be used in other ways that can still preserve his longevity while still cranking out a ton of production...  and this is why I'm curious as to why it seems virtually nothing has changed in how he is being used compared to how he was used under Rivera.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to have him, and at times it feels he is literally the only guy that can make a play when we need one, so in the biggest moments, we need him out there...  but, I am legitimately bothered by the amount of workload we're placing on him and the fact that we aren't seeing anything outside of the box to ensure his longevity - like bringing Chubba or Freeman in the backfield and shifting CMC outside.  

What are y'all's feeling on this? 

[TheCasillas]

My feeling is that it was one game … let’s chat in week 4

[Wolfcop]

CMC is on my FF team, so no concerns here. 

No, I'm sure they will work the backups in more as we go along. I want CMC around for many years to come, so here is to hoping we take care of him. 

[Madwolf]

Same as it was under Rivera. Thought we were going to take some carries off of him.

[j2sgam]

You aren’t the only one…

 

thought we should be spreading the ball around much more as I had bought into all that was done in the off-season to build the O. It’s the 1st game so not gonna hang my hat on yesterday but hope they open it up a bit.. I get NYJ were constantly pressuring but think getting the ball dispersed would stifle that a somewhat..

love some CMC, loved when Cam was here, hate it when it seems like a 1-man show… too much talent to not be utilizing them, I get taking the low hanging fruit, the easy option, great for short term but going to bite us in the ass long term…

[GRWatcher]

They didn't play much because they weren't good.

 

 

[GoobyPls]

Idk why late in the game when they were clearly milking the clock they didn’t feed Hubbard. They keep using Mccaffrey like this they will learn the learn the hard way on why teams don’t give his giant contracts to RB. 

[Panthers Rhule]

Nope

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Not concerned 1st game of the season.

If there isn't a decent RB rotation by mid season, yeah, I'll be concerned.

[SizzleBuzz]

Steve Smith Sr. is...

[Thorrez]

Wait for the first game we will be out of before halftime, we would see a lot more backups early in those (and they will come). I don't mind us running CMC into the ground in the games we are in, our roof looks like sneaking into the playoff as a 9-10 win team, if we put full focus on the winnable games.

[cardiackat88.]

Well for as seemingly little as they were used, Robby had one burner of a bomb TD catch and DJ made an amazing catch near the sideline.

CMC also opened the lane up massively for Darnold's walk in touchdown.

[DaveThePanther2008]

Kind of a double edged sword.  If we are driving and CMC is doing a large part of the offense.   Do you give him a spell and our offense stalls or do we gamble that the backups are going to come in and get us similar yards. 

I think Hubbard has the ability to bring a similar effectiveness to our offense.  Rhule has to give him some valuable time.   One or two plays a week isn't going to cut it.  If Rhule isn't going to give him the ball than why waste a draft pick on a player you aren't going to give a chance.

Secondly, God forbid he goes down again,  Hubbard has little or no game time experience and that will hurt us more.  

My belief is Rhule is scared to take him out and stall a drive.  In fact, I think he's terrified. 

[kungfoodude]

6 hours ago, Wolfcop said:

CMC is on my FF team, so no concerns here. 

No, I'm sure they will work the backups in more as we go along. I want CMC around for many years to come, so here is to hoping we take care of him. 

Technically we already had a track record of that last year. If you look at CMC in limited action last season, we used him a LOT. It will be interesting to see if we basically roll with the Rivera era level of usage.

I definitely get he is our best offensive player and we pay him a ton of money.....but it is rare for ANY NFL RB to last with a high level of usage over time. We have to eventually do a better job of managing his wear and tear. Maybe he is an outlier and can sustain this but that isn't something I would personally bank on as a head coach. 

This isn't college football where you have four years to use a player up and then on to the next. You have to try to protect your franchise players for the duration of their tenure with the team. They don't grow on trees.