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For Smith, obviously his broken arm is the explanation for this, and all reports (so far) say he's expected to be ready for week 1.For Stewart, I would also think this is precautionary. However, it is another red flag for Stewart. EVERY offseason he's been limited by some form of injury. As a pro, he's been almost constantly dinged up by one minor injury or another. At what point do these nagging injuries indicate that he might not be able to carry a full load for an NFL season (as THE main RB)?
He's never missed a game. You can't get more durable than that.
Sure you can. He can never have been listed as questionable (like he has over 70% of his NFL career). He can never have been limited in OTA's or training camp (like he has EVERY single one of his NFL seasons). He can never have been put on the PUP (like he evidently has been now). Any one of those things can make him more durable.But that wasn't my point. I know he has never missed a game. Did you know that he has more games with less than 10 carries (12) than he does with more than 19 (4)? [**BTW-I picked 19 carries, because that is what it would take to get to 300 in a season**] And that is the point of my question. Many people (myself included) think Stewart has stud potential, if only he wasn't sharing with Williams. However, the fact that he has NEVER been 100% healthy as a pro, despite having a very limited workload SHOULD raise question marks, shouldn't it? If he can't get/stay healthy with only 200 carries in a season, why should we expect him to be able to get/stay healthy if he was receiving 300 carries?
The answer is because Stewart's surgery was to correct the problem that was aggravating his Achilles. That is why he was questionable all those weeks and if that has been corrected, I don't see a problem. He has already proven he can play with an injury, so I really don't see a problem here.
But he was bothered by a different injury in his rookie season, causing him to be questionable much of that season, AND he had to deal with injury issues during college. My point isn't that I believe that this achilles injury will prevent him from playing this year, or that it will shorten his career (in fact, I said in my original post that I felt hs being placed on the PUP was precautionary). Rather, my question is: should the fact that Stewart has had to deal with a number of "minor" injuries, WHEN RARELY CARRYING A "FULL LOAD" cause concern with regards to his ability to stay healthy if given a full (300 carries) load?Disclaimer, I own both he and Williams and was hoping Williams would go elsewhere next year, but with the way Carolina has handled Stewart (skipping many practices last year, now placing him on PUP), I wouldn't be surprised if they keep both, since (IMO) they can't be sure that Stewart could handle the pounding as the main RB.
