Cat Scratch Reader
We’re counting down the days until the Panthers kick off the 2024 season.
We’re officially 28 days away from the Carolina Panthers kicking off the 2024 NFL season against the New Orleans Saints. It will be their second consecutive road opener. Now it’s time for our annual roster countdown to highlight the players on the Panthers’ roster. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the best player to ever wear the No. 28 jersey — RB Jonathan Stewart.
The selection of Stewart with the 13th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft was somewhat controversial at the time. The Panthers had a ton of needs, particularly at wide receiver and offensive tackle, and they had just spent the 27th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft on Deangelo Williams.
While the strategy may have been suspect, the pick was not. Stewart went on to have a ten year career with the Panthers that spanned the end of Jake Delhomme’s career to the high water mark of Cam Newton’s. He left the Panthers—for a vanishingly brief stint with the New York Giants—as an all-time leader in many rushing categories and, simply, as an all-time leader in the locker room.
In his ten years in Carolina, Stewart appeared in 134 games, started 64 of those, and rushed for 7318 yards on 1699 attempts (4.3 yards per attempt) for 51 touchdowns. He is the team’s career leader in rushing attempts and yards rushing, with Williams, Newton, Christian McCaffrey, and Deshaun Foster rounding out the top five in both categories.
How about it Panthers fans, what do you remember best about J-Stew’s career and why is it his incredible run from the 2011 Jacksonville monsoon game that definitely, definitely should have counted? Scroll on down to the comments and share your thoughts with us!
