Panthers' Kyle Allen, Greg Olsen, Curtis Samuel Fantasy Outlook After Week 3

The Carolina Panthers offense fired on all cylinders Sunday despite the absence of Cam Newton, which could be an important development for fantasy football owners as they evaluate the fallout from the quarterback's foot injury.

Kyle Allen was excellent in his first start, going 19-of-26 for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the 38-20 victory. He targeted Greg Olsen seven times for six receptions, 75 yards and two touchdowns. Curtis Samuel also had five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.

It's important to note this offensive explosion came against the Arizona Cardinals, who allowed 917 yards through their first two games. Only the Miami Dolphins (1,022 yards) had a more porous defense.

Allen looked far better than anybody expected him to, systematically taking apart Arizona's secondary.

The former Texas A&M and Houston Cougars signal-caller will likely get a chance to start in Week 5 against the Houston Texans. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported Carolina plans to keep Newton out of action "until it is convinced that he is not at increased threat to aggravate the lingering injury."

Unless Newton is ruled out for the season, Allen's value is largely limited to streaming since he'll relinquish the starting job at some point.

Philip Rivers totaled 318 yards and two touchdowns Sunday against the Texans, making him the second quarterback to eclipse 300 passing yards on Houston. If you're in desperate need of a QB for Week 4, Allen might be worth a shout.

After two injury-ravaged seasons, Olsen's fantasy stock was understandably low heading into 2019. Through three games, the tight end has 16 receptions for 221 yards and two touchdowns.

To put that into context, Olsen had 482 receiving yards and five scores in 2017 and 2018 combined.

The 34-year-old is reentering TE1 territory, though his injury history and Allen's inexperience are reasons to be a little skeptical as to whether he can maintain this pace.

If Olsen is available in your league, make a waiver claim as soon as you can with the hope that Allen continues to look his way at a high volume.

Samuel got 13 targets in Week 2, leading to a career-best 91 receiving yards. It was only his third time in 24 appearances in which he notched double digits in targets.

The wide receiver's performance Sunday provides further evidence to think his role in the passing game will be bigger than it was in his first two years. That may not lead to a drastic reassessment regarding his fantasy value, however.

Olsen is bound to get a lot of attention, while Christian McCaffrey should continue to log a heavy workload (24 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown Sunday). The ground attack might be an even bigger focus with Newton out than it was when he was on the field. 

Plus, Samuel is likely to get hit hard if Allen falls back to earth next week. The former Ohio State star should stay on the bench in standard leagues.