• TreVeyon Henderson starts his career off right: Henderson returned the game’s opening kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown while receiving some work with the New England Patriots‘ first-team offense.
• Tetairoa McMillan is already a clear starter: McMillan was the only Carolina Panthers receiver playing 100% of the team’s snaps with the starters, and he made multiple big plays.
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PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.

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Tetairoa McMillan is already the top Panthers wide receiver: McMillan caught two passes for 43 yards in his limited time with the starters.

The Panthers spent last season using Xavier Legette, Adam Thielen, Jalen Coker and David Moore, depending on who was healthy. All were best suited for a Z or slot role, leading the team to spend a top-10 pick on Tetairoa McMillan while adding veteran Hunter Renfrow. While McMillan is expected to lead the receiver room, it’s conceivable that any of the other receivers could emerge as the clear second passing option in the offense and potentially become fantasy-relevant.

McMillan started for Carolina and played every snap on the Panthers’ first two drives as their X receiver. Typically, early first-round wide receivers are immediate starters, so this isn’t too much of a surprise, but it is positive news for those who have or will draft McMillan. Legette started at the Z receiver spot and played each of the first six snaps with the starters before a fight led to him getting ejected from the game. Coker took his place for the rest of the time with the starters. Thielen played 100% of the snaps when the Panthers were in 11 personnel, but he played no snaps in two-receiver sets. This is similar to how Legette was used last season.

McMillan and Coker continued playing once Andy Dalton entered the game, while sixth-round rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. took over as the slot receiver.

The only wide receiver with a secure job is McMillan. It appears Legette and Coker are competing for the Z role. While Legette started this game with the lead, getting ejected and Coker immediately scoring a touchdown on the same drive could close the gap. Thielen only playing in 11 personnel isn’t great for his value, and he could potentially lose time to Renfrow, who primarily played out of the slot earlier in his career. He missed this game due to a hamstring injury. He’s already running and cutting, but it didn’t make sense for the Panthers to play him in this game.

Rico Dowdle factors in significantly with the starters: Dowdle played more snaps with the starters than Chuba Hubbard, but that shouldn’t be too concerning for Hubbard’s fantasy value.

The Panthers brought in reinforcements to the backfield this offseason with Jonathon Brooks out for the season and Miles Sanders signing with the Dallas Cowboys. Carolina brought in Dowdle from the Cowboys and drafted Trevor Etienne in the fourth round of the draft.

Hubbard played five of the first seven plays of the game, while Dowdle took each of the first two third-down snaps. Dowdle continued to play for another five consecutive plays, while Hubbard took the final snap on third-and-goal from the five-yard line. Dowdle continued playing once the other starters left the game. It’s unlikely this is a 50-50 split once the regular season begins, as it’s relatively common for a team to pull their running back before other starters in a preseason game. It’s also not concerning that Hubbard came back after Dowdle played six straight plays.

The usage over the first seven plays suggests Dowdle will take the lead on third-down snaps. Last season, Hubbard played roughly half of the snaps on third-and-3-plus yards to go, while Sanders took most of the other half. Hubbard only caught six passes for 27 yards and ran seven times for 19 yards in those situations last season. He will still likely play in some of those situations this year, so even if it goes 75-25 in Dowdle’s favor, it won’t significantly hinder Hubbard’s fantasy value.

Etienne didn’t enter the game until late in the second quarter. It’s not surprising for a Day 3 rookie to be lower on the depth chart this early in the season, so we can’t read much into how he might mix in this season.

The Browns’ third wide receiver spot remains open: The Browns’ top two contenders for the third receiver spot had quiet nights.

The Browns’ wide receiver room is led by Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman, who were both among the starters not playing in this game. Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore were the other wide receivers who played significant snaps for Cleveland last season, but neither is on the roster. The Browns signed Diontae Johnson after Johnson was under contract for four different teams last season and have 2024 fifth-round receiver Jamari Thrash competing for the third receiver spot. Thrash was listed as a starter on the Browns’ unofficial depth chart. 

Both started this game. Thrash played primarily out of the slot, which further suggests he’s the favorite to be the third wide receiver, as Jeudy and Tillman primarily play outside. While Johnson was at his best as an X receiver, he played the Z receiver role in this game. We may see plays this season with Johnson at Z and Jeudy moving to the slot.

However, while they played, Kaden Davis, who scored a touchdown, and undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain, who took some snaps from Johnson, led the team in receiving yards early on. It’s possible that the player who becomes the third wide receiver isn’t on the roster, or they could rely on a rotation to fill the third receiver spot.

Miscellaneous Notes

• The Browns announced before the game that quarterback Joe Flacco, running backs Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr., wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillman and tight end David Njoku would not play in this game. Quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett didn’t play due to hamstring injuries.
• Browns’ second-round running back Quinshon Judkins has not signed his rookie contract and is still away from the team, handling his legal situation around domestic violence and battery charges.
• Browns fourth-round rookies running back Dylan Sampson and tight end Harold Fannin both played significant snaps, but it’s hard to take much away from this game without seeing how they are used relative to the other veterans who sat this game out. Sampson was an every-down runner for a short period before the Browns went further down the depth chart. Fannin was largely only used in passing situations, suggesting even if there is an injury to Njoku this season, Fannin would only have a part-time role.
• Browns backup wide receiver David Bell remains on the non-football injury list.
• Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble remains on the physically unable to perform list. Tremble started ahead of Ja’Tavion Sanders whenever he was healthy last season. The expectation is for Sanders to be the clear starter this season, but that is not guaranteed.

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Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.