I would hardly call the players anywhere near opposites...to address the running back situation first: Jonathan Stewart is a very similar back to Torain but is significantly better. Stewart is a bruiser as well but has the bonus of being a fairly solid speed back...I guess you could call him a hybrid. Just to compare in the "bruiser" department --> Stewart: 93 trucking, 92 stiff arm, 78 strength VS. Torain: 90 trucking, 89 stiff arm, 78 strength. On top of that...Stewart has 90 speed vs. Torain's 86 speed; and Stewart has 87 juking vs. Torain's 70 juking...the rest of their stats can be considered negligible since they're basically only off by a few points...but just in case anyone is curious, Stewart is better in literally EVERY single HB attribute (and all catching attributes) aside from being 1 point less in acceleration (86/87) and 1 point less in carry rating (90/91). They're both the same age and Stewart is an A potential vs. Torain's B potential...so the gap between these two backs will only get bigger as time goes on.
A fairly huge note to consider though...Torain has a ridiculous injury rating of a 49. It's almost guaranteed that Torain will suffer an injury at some point in the season if he's being utilized at all. Not to mention...Torain is indeed a bruiser, so his carries will most likely consist of running strong up the middle, so he's likely to meet a hulked out linebacker or 300-pound d-lineman straight on for most runs...rather than a speed back who might run to the outside and get tackled by a smaller CB or safety or not get tackled at all like Jamaal Charles and his 90 yard TD runs.
Moving on to the linebackers...those two are certainly different so I can see how a user's play-style can come into consideration here. Dan Connor is rather sluggish but a good tackler and will certainly make some plays against the run. McIntosh is a fairly speedy linebacker and also has some solid coverage skills...so he can make plays in both the passing game and the running game. As these two linebackers stand right now, I'd definitely consider McIntosh the more complete player and just better overall, but considering age/potential...I'm not so sure I'd take McIntosh over Connor (a personal choice). If he's 28 and only a B potential, he's almost certainly going to decline next season (his speed will probably take a hit too). This isn't a huge deal at all though...like it was stated before, it's just a matter of preference.
Just curious though Deuce...you have arguably the best linebacker trio in the entire league (ok ok aside from the Steelers...), are you doing this move for depth or are you planning on running a 3-4 defense? Cause I couldn't justify downgrading that much at RB just to add a linebacker for depth. I know you have DeAngelo...but Stewart is still a pretty valuable trading chip and is a darn good back-up, not to mention he'd most likely overtake Williams as your #1 back after maybe 2-3 seasons.
Well, those are my thoughts...I have a lot of free time these days so I actually sat at my computer and compared everyone's attributes, then spent like 30 minutes typing this shiz up!! Just to officially state though...I DO approve of the trade, I definitely think it's favoring the Redskins a good bit, but it's not enough to object to it. I just wanted to clear a couple things up...one being that Stewart and Torain are different types of backs. The only difference between the two is that Stewart is better...plain and simple. I don't know if people just don't know much about Jonathan Stewart...but he is a BEAST!! You all need to watch some more Panthers games!
And not to throw Deuce under the bus or anything...but we do have to keep in mind that he already mentioned he has to leave for the military probably after the first season. I'm not saying by any means that we should ban him from making trades or anything...I'm just suggesting we spend a little extra consideration on the trades he makes so the next Panthers' owner doesn't feel cheated in any way when he takes over the team. I'd feel a little better if a draft pick was thrown in by the Redskins...I would say a 3rd round pick in my personal opinion, but people can discuss what they think.
I just want to re-iterate (in case people just skimmed through my stupidly long post) that Torain has a freaking 49 INJURY RATING!!!! That is all...have a good day friends.