From a tactical standpoint, the Panthers are using Stewart on an assortment of inside- and outside-zone plays, with Newton lined up in shotgun and under center. Newton is instructed to carry out his fakes on shotgun running plays and execute bootleg fakes on traditional runs; this causes the defense to pause for a count before pursuing Stewart, leading to many big gains from the hard-charging runner. In addition, the increased use of shotgun runs puts Stewart in his comfort zone, given his past experience as the feature back in Oregon's spread offense. While every NFL running back is expected to produce positive gains from wherever he lines up, there is a subtlety required to run effectively on shotgun/zone-read concepts. Runners must be able to make decisive downhill cuts while running laterally on zone plays, to attack the creases along the front line and consistently pick up positive yards.