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Life comes at you fast in the NFL. Devin Funchess went from undisputed number-one receiver on the Carolina Panthers to an afterthought over the course of just a few weeks.
So what happened?
Probably the biggest contributor to his demise has been the breakouts of the Panthers' two young wide receivers -- D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel. Both of those players shined in extremely limited opportunities at the start of the season while Funchess was operating as the top wideout. And both of those players earned the right for more playing time.
According to numberFire's Net Expected Points (NEP) model, which measures how many points a player adds to their team's expected points total using historical down-and-distance data, both Moore and Samuel have added at least 0.40 NEP every time they draw a target -- and that doesn't even factor in what they do in the rushing game. Funchess, on the other hand, has added just 0.14 NEP per target in 2018. It's a pretty glaring difference.
Ron Rivera and Norv Turner probably noticed as Funchess' opportunities have been scaled down recently. In the two games since he missed Week 12, Funchess has had just 6 total targets (3 in each game) and has played fewer than 50 percent of the team's offensive snaps in both games. It doesn't seem like they're easing him back in either -- his snap share dropped in Week 14 despite being another week removed from his injury. The Panthers are just moving on.
At this point, you can't trust Funchess to produce for your fantasy teams despite the Panthers' nice schedule during the fantasy playoffs. On a roster stocked with up-and-coming receiving talent, he's the odd man out.