The Panthers’ offense was so bad that former-No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young ($5,000) was benched this week for veteran Andy Dalton ($4,800). With Dalton under center, is Panthers WR Adam Thielen ($5,000) worth a look this week when the Panthers hit Vegas to take on the Raiders?
So far this season, Thielen’s numbers have been uninspiring. He had three catches for 49 yards in Week 1 and just two catches for 20 yards in Week 2. However, since Young only threw for 161 yards in Week 1 and 84 yards in Week 2, Thielen actually accounted for a large percentage of the team’s passing yards.
Whether you back the move to Dalton or not, his promotion definitely gives Thielen more potential along with fellow WR Diontae Johnson ($4,900) who also got off to a slow start with Young throwing the passes.
Dalton and Thielen showed a strong connection last year in Dalton’s one game as a starter in place of Young. In their 37-27 loss in Seattle, Thielen racked up 11 catches for 145 yards and a touchdown on a team-high 14 targets. In that game, the Panthers let Dalton throw 58 times. While they’ll hope he doesn’t have to throw nearly that much against the Raiders this week, it does show that Dalton trusts Thielen, and that the two can combine to produce big numbers when given the chance.
The Raiders should be a good matchup for Dalton and Thielen after they gave up one WR touchdown in each of the first two weeks of the season. The game is expected to be fairly high-scoring with an over/under of 40, and the Panthers as six-point road underdogs. Thielen could be a great value at +300 to score a touchdown and +135 to get 50+ receiving yards. If you really think he and Dalton can get on track, Thielen is a massive +1200 to have 100+ receiving yards, which he did in Dalton’s only start last season.
Dalton’s return as the starter definitely gives the Panthers receivers an infusion of hope, but both Thielen and Johnson are still high-risk plays this week. If injuries have left you desperate in season-long leagues, you could definitely do worse for a WR3 or WR4 since they should get good target share. However, you don’t want to be relying heavily on Thielen until we see how he looks in this new offense with his new QB.
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