4 Players to Stash in Fantasy Football From the NFC South

Brandon Wegher, RB, Carolina Panthers

The Player

It's not often that an undrafted player from Morningside College creeps up on your fantasy radar, but Brandon Wegher is about to change that this preseason.

The small-school stud originally signed to play at Iowa, where he looked like a future star as a freshman, finishing with 641 yards and 78 touchdowns while splitting carries in a talented backfield.

But Wegher was dismissed from the program and transferred to Oklahoma University, where he never played a snap as he battled off-field issues. He eventually made his way to Morningside, and he exploded in 2014 with 2,680 yards and 39 touchdowns, averaging 8 yards per carry. He also caught 29 passes and scored another 4 times on receptions.

In the 2015 preseason, Wegher showed off his power and burst, rushing for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns while also adding a last-minute, 42-yard touchdown reception in dramatic fashion in a 25-24 win against the Bills.

Wegher is a 5'10", 215-pound back with extremely similar measurables to Chris Ivory or Isaiah Crowell. His 4.51-second 40-yard dash and 37" vertical demonstrate he has the burst to succeed on the NFL level, but it's his power and determination that seem to define his running style.

The Opportunity

Jonathan Stewart hasn't played 16 games in a season since 2011, and the former Duck has documented foot and ankle issues that have flared up throughout his inconsistent career.

With his former backfield mate DeAngelo Williams now in Pittsburgh, Stewart saw the largest workload of his career in 2015 (258 touches) in the run-first Panthers system. He played in 13 games, posting a Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play (-0.02) on par with Darren McFadden (-0.02) and DeMarco Murray (-0.03). While certainly not tragic (the league-average rate for running backs in 2015 was -0.04), those numbers do not indicate that Stewart's is an ascending player now that he has the backfield to himself (even if the volume and results are better).

Sophomore Cameron Artis-Payne also stands in the way, but the Panthers didn't seem enamored with him last year, and he struggled to demonstrate he has the physicality and third-down ability to be the future.

No team had more rushing attempts in the NFL last season than the Panthers, and Wegher is a Jonathan Stewart injury away from getting a serious look in this backfield. Given what he has overcome to get to this point of his career, he is not a guy to bet against.