Is jonathan stewart gonna start for carolina?

Question

Is jonathan stewart gonna start for carolina?

Answer 1

Hi Drew,

I think the popular thinking right now is that Stewart will challenge D'Angelo Williams for playing time in Carolina, but will not be an unquestioned starter.  With Foster leaving town for SF, it looks like Stewart will try to fill the void that he left.

The fact that Carolina drafted Stewart makes you think that they want to work him into the starting role, but remember that Williams had a 5.0 average rush per attempt last year over 144 attempts; that's pretty darn impressive.  Only 3 other players (Peterson, Taylor, and Jacobs) had as good an average and over 144 carries.

So, your answer is yes and no.  Stewart may or may not start, but will likely get 50% of the overall carries.  If you click on the link in my source list, you'll see that I have Williams ranked 34th and Stewart ranked 39th.  I think they're about the same, but Williams will do slightly better.  On my site you can also create your own player rankings using drag and drop, then generate a printable cheat sheet to take to your fantasy draft.

Answer 2

Knowing John Fox, Williams will be the starting RB in week 1.  However, since the Panthers drafted Stewart with their first round pick, it obviously shows that they have big plans for him.  Carolina will let Williams stumble before inserting Stewart as the starter.  Also, with so many NFL teams using a 2 RB committee these days, I don't see either guy becoming the true featured back in their run first offense unless an injury occurs.  Stewart does carry a big advantage in that he is an excellent receiver.  Look for Stewart to get a lot of red zone touches and also help Delhomme to establish play action early on in games.

Answer 3

From what i am reading, it is expected that Stewart will get about 2/3 of the touches with Williams getting the other 1/3. But there is a long Training camp to ensue, so that could change if Stewart struggles to pick up blocking assignments which rookies tend to do.