Time to Panic? Jonathan Stewart
One of the hardest parts of my job is to evaluate what matters and what doesn't in training camp. We get so caught up in the day-to-day news, the tendency is to overreact and start drafting based only on August, rather than all the reasons we ranked a player a certain why to begin with. Many camp stories are telling signs. More of them are forgotten, are reversed, or look ridiculous in the cold light of Week 3.
With that introduction, I have to admit it hasn't been a great camp for the Jonathan Stewart believer. He finally made his debut last night, but he's lost some ground to DeAngelo Williams, who has enjoyed a fine camp. Stewart looked okay, the lightest 235 pounds you'll ever see, but he's running tentative. Check out Steve Reed's column on Stewart, which is enlightening.
On one hand, Stewart's caution is annoying. On the other, the Panthers certainly believe he is physically ready for the season. One thing that hasn't changed is that the Panthers want to be a power running team. And Stewart is the man who can give them that.
He's a power back that can catch the football. Williams has earned a bigger role, but I still see Stewart playing more on the high leverage downs. Perhaps the carry split will be close initially, but my money would still be on Stewart winning out by money time in fantasy leagues. You don't just play to win September, just like you can't rank simply on August. I'd rather Stewart have to overcome mental hurdles than physical.
Perhaps I'm just stubborn, but sometimes you have to trust the evaluations you made in the quiet of summer.
Comments
Stewart should be fine over
time. Hopefully, Smith will
play in Wk-3 to give a better
guage of the entire Panther
offense.
The tough qestion to answer
is, where do you draft
Stewart and D-Will and if
you grab one, do you have
to grab the other too w/o
reaching too badly for
either of them.
Posted by: kj | August 15, 2008 04:36 PM
Gregg, the Roto rankings have Stewart at 30 or 31 if I'm not mistaken? Do you drop him down a few spots or are you holding strong. I've loved JS since his Oregon days and am seriously considering drafting him as my RB3 this weekend...
Posted by: Storm | August 15, 2008 10:13 PM