The Carolina Panthers have an interesting matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1 of the NFL season, which is also the first week of fantasy football. As such, it's vital to find the right matchups to target. You might have some Panthers players already, but if not, these are the ones you probably want to target for this upcoming matchup.
Bryce Young sort of became matchup-proof at the end of last season, and he's kind of in that realm to start the 2025 season. One thing worth noting is the exodus of Adam Thielen and Jalen Coker's trip to IR, but he does have Tetairoa McMillan, and the Jaguars gave up the most passing yards per game last season, so Young is probably due for a pretty good outing.
In the same sense, Chuba Hubbard has a great matchup on the ground. Jacksonville was better in that area, but they still gave up over 130 rushing yards per game, good for eighth in the NFL last season. Hubbard is healthy and back behind that same quality offensive line, and while the Jags have made some improvements, that's still a matchup to take advantage of.
In deeper leagues, Xavier Legette is worth a shout. As mentioned, the Jaguars had trouble defending the pass. They brought in Travis Hunter, who is expected to play both ways, to help the secondary. However, he's more likely to cover Tetairoa McMillan, allowing Legette to see weaker coverage. Plus, with McMillan in the lineup, Legette figures to have a little more open space to work with.
Ja'Tavion Sanders, almost by default, is going to be the starting tight end, which means he has a decent matchup. The Jaguars struggled against the pass and cut a decent linebacker in Chad Muma. Bryce Young will need a safety valve with Thielen gone, so why not the position that typically is the safety valve? Sanders began to look really good before his neck injury last year, so a healthy version might be a sneakily good option this week.
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