D’Onta Foreman went from injury insurance to the NFL’s hottest running back

When you pull up the list of top rushers in the NFL this season there’s no shortage of amazing performances. Josh Jacobs gaining a first down on 28 percent of his carries, Derrick Henry’s 13 rushing touchdowns, the breakout of Travis Etienne into a 1,250 yard all-purpose back — but buried further down the stat sheet is a player on the verge of getting A LOT of attention out of nowhere: D’Onta Foreman.

A career journeyman, Foreman was signed by the Panthers this offseason as nothing more than depth insurance for Christian McCaffrey. Now he’s become their most important offensive weapon in the funniest, least probably playoff run in recent memory. Foreman has run for 774 yards in nine games since taking over as feature back following the McCaffrey trade in late October, rushing for over 100 yards in five on these games — and contesting some of the NFL’s elite backs in numerous statistical areas.

Week 16 was Foreman’s magnum opus, as Foreman ran for 165 yards against the Lions en route to earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Part of this is attributable to the Panthers’ simplistic, but effective running schemes, and Carolina’s surprising offensive line, anchored by Ikem Ekwonu who has been a revelation in his rookie season — but a lot of this is directly because of Foreman himself.

This is what leads us to a tremendous quandary for the Panthers: Whether they can now afford to keep Foreman? He was only signed to a 1 year, $200K deal, fitting the role (or lack thereof) they expected him to play — but now he’s thriving inside their system and putting up numbers on par with backs who are paid 20-30 times the amount. While he’s not going to command top back money, there will be a substantial pay raise in 2023 — and it’ll be incumbent on the Panthers whether they’re willing to be that team, or would sooner let him leave to save money and recoup a compensatory pick.

A team in need of a running back will, at the very least, give him a substantial raise. It will be well deserved for a player who has been in the NFL since 2017, on his fifth team, and clinging to a back-end roster spot. Foreman’s story is one of the best in the league this year, and will only gain more steam should the Panthers be able to complete their remarkable rebound from a sorry, tanking organization in the cellar of the NFL — to winning the NFC South, a move Carolina still has in its control.

If your team’s missing piece is a running back then you best start paying attention to Carolina now, because D’Onta Foreman is hitting his stride, and could be the best option in free agency in 2023.