Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart left Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers due to a hamstring injury, the team announced.
Stewart rushed for nine yards on five carries before exiting. He was replaced by veteran Fozzy Whittaker, who saw the majority of snaps despite the Panthers announcing during the game that he was being evaluated for a concussion.
Mike Tolbert spelled Whittaker until he was cleared to return. At the time of the announcement Stewart would be unable to return, Whittaker had accumulated 72 yards on seven carries, while adding 31 yards on three receptions. Tolbert, however, only received two carries.
Figuring out the prognosis for Stewart is the first step in assessing anything for Whittaker and potentially Tolbert. If Stewart’s out for a week, then Whittaker is a short-term stopgap you can plug in without any real guarantee of production. There are probably more reliable options sitting on your bench or waiver wire; if not, there may be bigger roster problems afoot than Carolina running backs.
Stewart has been consistently banged up throughout his career, missing 23 games over the last four seasons. This is a contingency most prepared for in taking him.
Even if Stewart misses a few weeks, Whittaker’s upside is likely limited. Tolbert is a solid goal-line option, but the Panthers don’t use their running backs as their goal-line backs. That’s Cam Newton‘s job, and he’s borderline unstoppable.
Whittaker could have some value from a volume standpoint, but he’s not suddenly going to start carrying rosters. Tolbert could be worth stashing, but likely not worth starting as a flex option unless he was announced as the starter.
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Mike Tolbert
Fozzy Whittaker
