It’s never too early to think about your next fantasy football season. For the Carolina Panthers, the most-potent fantasy options on the roster are All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey and their top three wide receivers.

Nobody knows how Sam Darnold is going to look operating Joe Brady’s offense at this point, but for what it’s worth they’ve surrounded him with weapons. If Darnold can do better than Teddy Bridgewater then guys like D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson and Terrace Marshall could all be in for some big numbers in 2021. The schedule is also favorable, at least early on in the year. Here’s what Pro Football Focus had to say about those three.

“It’s do or die for Sam Darnold and company — they have zero excuse not to be an above-average offense with a layup slate of matchups for the first half of the season. The Jets, Texans, Cowboys, Eagles, Vikings and Falcons all present defenses that ranked bottom-12 in fantasy points allowed to WRs last year. “

Of course every NFL season is different and these defenses might all improve in coverage against WRs. At the very least, based on what we know about what they did last year the outlook is good for Carolina receivers until around midseason.

Week 9 is when things will start to get more difficult. That’s when the Patriots and their always-capable secondary come to town. Two weeks later, Washington visits, followed by a road game against a dominant Dolphins defense. After the bye there’s the Falcons again, then to finish the year the Panthers will face a brutal slog, visiting the Bills and Saints and playing the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers twice.