Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooox!

I guarantee you gentlemen that no other fantasy player across the nation felt the sting of the Carolina Panthers troubles last year more than yours truly. After tricking Tyler into trading me DeAngelo Williams for my recognition that he has balls, no one wanted DeAngelo to top the RB's more than me. Despite an ankle injury that kept him out of a few games and limited his carries in several others, when DeAngelo was healthy and given the ball he produced as well as anyone last year not named Chris Johnson. I did the smart thing and snagged Jonathan Stewart, or as I call him JStew, as the handcuff. But I quickly discovered JStew is more than a handcuff. On four or five Sundays it was completely legit to play both Williams and Stewart and they would split 40 fantasy points between them. However, both finished outside of the top ten in fantasy points, and were unable to give me my second. I ask why?

Most importantly, Jake Delhomme was absolutely awful every second he was under center. He threw an insane amount of interceptions and it really limited the carries for both backs because the offense just couldn't stay on the field.

Secondly, John Fox seemed much less committed to the run than he was in 2008. It almost seemed like because Delhomme was throwing so many picks, he wanted to allow Delhomme to throw more to gain some confidence. In other words, he treated Delhomme like a future franchise rookie QB. That made no sense.

Third, the Panthers were often playing from behind and were unable to stay with the run in the fourth quarter when the defenses are worn out.

It is quite a shame the Panthers have been unable to surround Williams and JStew with more offensive talent, because both of these guys are absolute studs. In terms of talent alone, I think both are legitimate top five backs in this league. Will they have more productive years in 2010?

Here's the good news: yes. The Panthers have let Delhomme go to Cleveland and are placing the offense in the hands of Matt Moore, who wasn't Kolbesque in his starts last year, but proved to be a formidable leader. Clausen is clearly the QB of the future, but Moore is the leader for at least this year. With Moore at the helm, I expect Fox to rely heavily on Williams and JStew for the first eight to ten weeks. I suspect there are several games in which both players get 20+ carries. Both guys are too talented to use otherwise. Let's remember despite the Panthers struggles, both had solid ypc numbers. For fantasy purposes, if you own Deangelo, Stewart is a must have. If both are healthy, both can start for your team against weaker run d's and poorer teams.

Predictions:

Williams - 1300 yds, 12 TDs
Stewart - 1,050 yds, 8 TDs