The Carolina Panthers confuse me in many ways. But nothing is as head scratching as Marty Hurney’s decision to invest a ton of money into their running backs — reportedly the most in the league — when the Panthers no longer have a run-first offense. This season, Jonathan Stewart, DeAngelo Williams, and Mike Tolbert are averaging a combined 17 carries a game at a pedestrian 3.6 yards a carry. They’ve also caught a total of 18 passes. That’s nowhere near enough of a return to justify the investment the Panthers’ have made in the trio.
Bonus observation: In part because of those deals, the Panthers’ cap situation for 2013 and 2014 is pretty ugly.
