Carolina Panthers Update on LB Thomas Davis & OTA’s

Cat Crave received a submission from one of it’s contributor applicants. His name is Jason Clark and he joins us from Troy, Alabama. My hat’s off to him, a Panthers fan deep in enemy territory. Without further ado, here’s Jason’s post.

On Wednesday we got the news we hoped wouldn’t come. Thomas Davis re-tore his right ACL during an individual drill. He fell to the ground and immediately grabbed his right knee. It is the same knee that he injured mid-season of last year at the New Orleans game. It is projected he will miss the 2010 season. The Carolina Panthers are reserved about placing Davis on Injured-Reserve, with the hope he will be able to play before the end of the season.

Now if you think back to April 27 when the Chris Harris – Jamar Williams trade went down, many fans disagreed with the move, saying we were trading a starter for a backup. That looks to be different now, as Williams will most likely be taking Davis’ spot at the WLB position. Williams was drafted by the Chicago Bears to take the place of pro-bowler Lance Briggs in case they couldn’t reach a new contract.

Williams only has three starts since he was drafted in 2006. While the first two starts were average-at-best, the last start against the St. Louis Rams in Week 13 of last year, he came up with a total of 18 tackles. He took the chance he had and made the most of it by tackling Steven Jackson 13 times during the game.

While Jackson still had 112 yards for the game, it wasn’t at cost of Williams. Out of the 13 plays Williams tackled Jackson, he averaged only 2.46 yards a carry. So while losing Davis for the season is no doubt a huge loss, there are still players on the roster who can fill the position and play well.

Also during today’s OTA practices, they were experimenting with the linebacking core. James Anderson stayed where he has been since mini-camp at strongside linebacker, but Jon Beason moved to weakside linebacker in place of Davis, and Dan Connor took the place of Beason at MLB. It’s good to know they will experiment to make sure they have the best at each position starting this season.

With Beason, Anderson, and Connor being the most well-known to fans besides Davis, it’s good to remember Williams will turn out to be a great acquisition in time. We also have Eric Norwood; fourth-round draft pick out of South Carolina. With those five players, there’s no doubt that John Fox and Ron Meeks will find a great solution to the injury of Davis.

This posting is property of Cat Crave and the Fansided Network.