Terrace Marshall has struggled with injuries all his life, and that’s been a real concern for some fantasy managers when they’re on the clock in their drafts. According to Todd Karpovich, Marshall had a season-ending lower leg injury in high school that lasted until his freshman year at LSU in 2019 while sustaining a stress fracture on his foot in his sophomore year. His injury history has left many to question whether he’ll be an injury-prone player in the NFL.

During his college years, the 6’3 205 lb wide receiver finished with 1,594 yards and 23 touchdowns on 106 receptions in 28 games through three years at LSU. His numbers don’t pop off the page, but he was playing behind some of the most talented wide receivers in Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Jefferson averaged 14.2 YPC at LSU, while Marshall averaged 15 YPC, showing how efficient he was with the limited opportunity he saw. The 21 year old ran a 4.45 40 yard dash at his pro day, which is great considering the young breakout age and speed to go along with it.

Assuming he stays healthy during his time in the league, Marshall has a WR2 ceiling. If he gets there, I don’t think he’ll get to that production level until his 2nd or 3rd year. The main reason is because they have both D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson in town, and they’ll be the top two targeted wideouts in this Sam Darnold run offense. You also can’t forget about the target share Christian McCaffrey will demand. I’ll wait to trade for Marshall until late next season or next off-season because he will underwhelm in the 2021 season. 

Terrace has the potential to be the alpha on this Panthers team if they decide to let Anderson walk in free agency next season. There are question marks surrounding Sam Darnold as his quarterback, but Carolina has very little invested in him, which means they could trade for or draft a new quarterback if Darnold turns out to be a bust in the NFL. I think his floor is low while Robby is there, but it boosts up to the WR3 range if he leaves the Panthers. If Terrace Marshall develops into the player we think he could be, he could very well become the alpha WR1, but I’d expect him to be the WR1a to Moore’s WR1b.

After D.J. Moore’s WR16 finish in the 2019 season, the fantasy community was certain that he’d crack the top-12 wide receivers in 2020. Robby Anderson emerged as a weapon alongside Moore as he finished as the WR19 compared to Moore’s WR23 finish. Bringing Marshall in will only take more targets from Moore as he could move closer to the 100 target mark in 2021 after finishing with 135 last season. The question becomes, will Moore ever finish as a WR1 in fantasy?

The biggest factor in Moore becoming a future WR1 is an increase in touchdowns. In his three years in the league, he’s only scored 10 touchdowns--2 his rookie season, 4 his sophomore season, and 4 last year. I expect him to see more red-zone targets with Sam Darnold as his quarterback. Another question mark for this team is whether Darnold will be an upgrade to Bridgewater. If he is, there will be another level to Moore’s game that will be unlocked.

The 24th overall selection in the 2018 draft will be entering his final year on his rookie contract, but the Panthers did exercise his fifth year option to keep him on the team through 2022. Robby Anderson will be a free agent after next year, and I do expect them to let him walk which will help Moore’s value. His role on the team shouldn’t change much as he’ll stay in the slot, and Marshall is expected to replace Anderson on the outside. 

I anticipate D.J. Moore will finish as a WR2 again next season, but has WR1 upside in 2022 and beyond. Like I said in Terrace Marshall’s profile above, Sam Darnold will seemingly have a make or break season this year, otherwise they’ll bring in a new starter or a quarterback competition at the very least. Moore’s talent will keep him as a consistent fantasy producer no matter who’s throwing him the ball.

Moore went from 135 targets in 2019 to 118 in 2020, while Robby Anderson saw 136 targets last season. Anderson is reunited with former quarterback Sam Darnold, which should allow him to remain the highest targeted player for the Panthers in 2021. He had a surprisingly hot start to last year as he was the WR6 through six weeks. He came back down to Earth, finishing as the WR19, but Anderson proved he could be a top receiver for his team as he finished with 1,096 yards on 95 receptions.

One of the most impressive things about Anderson’s 2020 performance is that he finished as a WR2 with just 3 TDs. Touchdowns are rarely consistent, so he is almost guaranteed to rise in that category which only raises his ceiling or at the very least keeps him as a solid WR2 in 2021. A lot of his ceiling has to do with how well he rekindles the connection he had with Darnold in 2017 when he finished as the WR18 while scoring 7 TDs.

Anderson’s dynasty value depends on where he lands in 2022 as he enters free agency. If he stays in Carolina, next year will have a lot to say with how he’ll be valued going forward, but their quarterback situation just brings more questions. He’ll be 29 years old next year, which means he’ll only have a few more seasons where he could be fantasy relevant. If you’re an Anderson manager, I’d suggest trading him away as soon as you can. Uncertainty is rarely a good thing in fantasy football.