The Facts: McCaffrey didn’t hesitate. Asked in January if there would be any benefit to him playing more in the slot to cut down on injuries that have sidelined him for 23 games the past two seasons, he deadpanned, “No." Since, then? Silence. That question hadn’t been answered by the staff since HC Matt Rhule and GM Scott Fitterer worked to revamp the offense around new OC Ben McAdoo. The question seemed more pertinent after former Titan D’Onta Foreman signed with the Panthers this offseason. Foreman is more of a power back, and McAdoo wants a more physical running game. Rhule finally answered the question Tuesday at the NFL owners meeting in South Florida, even though the idea of putting McCaffrey in the slot more has been kicked around Bank of America Stadium. “We can always move him around and utilize him, but at the end of the day, he’s a back," Rhule said.

Diehards Line: Rhule added “You can do a lot of things with Christian, but to take him out of the backfield, to me, is taking him out of what he does best. We’ll keep him at tailback. ..." The Panthers still have questions on offense, the biggest being who is going to play quarterback. But Rhule is locked in on leaving McCaffrey at running back. That doesn’t mean McCaffrey’s role won’t change some under McAdoo, who wants to develop a scheme to take the pressure off the quarterback having to be a star. That said, with Foreman and Chuba Hubbard on hand, we could see more two-back sets in which McCaffrey or one of the other backs shifts to another position. You also could see an attempt to lighten McCaffrey’s load so the former Stanford star doesn’t have the 403 touches and 429 snaps he did in 2019 when he became the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. Still, expecting McCaffrey to continue serving as the primary offensive weapon here seems reasonable.