Relentless pursuit of running backs pays for Panthers
Team used first-round picks in 2006 and 2008 to acquire tandem that's toast of NFL.
By Charles Chandler
cchandler@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/405612.html
Despite the recession, at least one big investment is still paying big dividends.
No NFL team has spent as much draft currency on running backs over the past four years than the Carolina Panthers, and they're enjoying a tremendous payoff.
Fellow first-round picks DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart burst onto the national stage with dominating performances on “Monday Night Football” against a Tampa Bay defense that had allowed only one rushing touchdown through the first 12 games.
Williams and Stewart scored two touchdowns each in a 38-23 thumping of the Buccaneers and combined for 301 rushing yards – 186 by Williams and 115 by Stewart.
They ran over and around the Bucs. They repeatedly broke tackles and stiff-armed defenders out of the way.
The Kool-Aid coach John Fox predicted after the game was freely flowing over the airways Tuesday, as national sports announcers and analysts glowingly discussed the Panthers' “Smash & Dash” running back combination.
For Charlotteans and Panthers fans, the Tampa Bay game was the realization of the potential they've seen in Williams and Stewart all season.
But for many others around the country, Monday night was an introduction to arguably the NFL's best one-two combination of running backs.
The reality is now clear: Carolina definitely has two backs that are not only starting caliber, but also good enough to be 1,500-yard rushers this season with enough attempts.
Williams might get to that number anyway, despite splitting carries with Stewart. Williams ranks fifth in the NFL with 1,144 yards rushing and has taken over the league lead in touchdowns with 15.
Stewart has 699 yards, 111 away from breaking Fred Lane's team rookie record. There's even a chance Stewart could finish strong enough in the final three games to join Williams in the 1,000-yard club.
Only four sets of teammates in NFL history have rushed for 1,000 yards in the same season.
Among NFL backs with 100 or more rushing attempts this season, Williams ranks first in yards per carry (5.4) and Stewart is fifth (4.9).
The genesis of this dynamic duo being united in Charlotte goes back to 2002, John Fox's first season as Carolina's coach.
The Panthers drafted running back DeShaun Foster in the second round that year, then signed veteran Stephen Davis before the 2003 season to form a dangerous one-two combination that especially flourished in the playoffs, leading to a Super Bowl appearance.
When Davis' career neared its end, Carolina used another second-round pick on a running back in 2005, selecting Eric Shelton.
Shelton turned out to be a major bust, rushing for only 23 yards before getting released prior to what would've been his third season.
Fox and general manager Marty Hurney quickly suspected they'd whiffed on Shelton and came right back in the 2006 draft to invest a first-round pick on Williams.
Then, after Foster's production began to decline, they released him in February and used the 13th overall pick in this year's draft – another first-rounder – on Stewart.
No other team in the NFL has come close to spending two first-round picks and a second-rounder on running backs over the past four drafts.
The only other teams with two of their own first-round running backs still on their rosters are NFC South rivals New Orleans and Tampa Bay, but neither picked their runners closer than five years apart.
In New Orleans, Reggie Bush (2006 draft) is starring when healthy, while Deuce McAllister (2001) is nearing the end of his career because of repeated knee injuries.
In Tampa Bay, Carnell Williams (2006) was joined this season by Warrick Dunn (1997) after Dunn spent six seasons in Atlanta.
Miami's tandem of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are both former first-rounders, but Williams was drafted by the Saints, not the Dolphins.
Cincinnati has two first-round running backs from the 2005 draft, Chris Perry and Cedric Benson, but both have been major disappointments. The Bengals drafted Perry and Chicago originally selected Benson.
The closest parallel to Williams and Stewart is Tennessee's tandem of Chris Johnson and LenDale White.
Johnson (1,098 yards and eight touchdowns this season) was a first-round pick this year and White (674 yards, 14 touchdowns) was taken in the 2006 second round.
What you're seeing from the Panthers' pair is the culmination of dogged determination by Fox, Hurney and Carolina's college scouting department to become dominant in the running game, even if it meant repeatedly using precious draft currency.
They also reconstructed their offensive line this past offseason to better fit a power running style.
The drafting strategy was high-risk.
If Williams and/or Stewart had flopped like Shelton, then Fox and Hurney could've lost their jobs.
Instead, they've started something the rest of a copycat league might try to duplicate.
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