Anyone know which way the Panthers are leaning as far as DeShaun Foster and Lamar Smith? Is Foster finally ready for his potential breakout season? Let's face it, if Lamar Smith can produce as well as he did last year with an otherwise stagnant Panther defense, then Foster should become quite a nice pickup in our drafts... What's the word?
Well...Lamar Smith is gone...
March 6, 2003 - 12:33 a.m.
The Panthers released Smith on Wednesday, three months after he was placed on paid leave following his drunk driving arrest. Smith, 32, was arrested Nov. 28 on charges of driving while impaired, speeding and reckless driving. The team placed him on paid leave the next day.
...and...
Stephen Davis is in...
April 18,2003 4:42 p.m.
With the lack of running backs in free agency and the draft, why wasn’t there more interest in Davis? The fear of some teams was that Davis, 29, has started to decline slightly. Even though Davis has not had a lot of carries in his career, he has taken a lot of hits because of his running style. The Panthers were well aware of where Davis is in his career, and planned on getting two to three years out of him when they signed him. His contract is structured in such a way that the Panthers won’t take a huge hit if Davis suddenly becomes ineffective and they have to get rid of him.
I think that Foster and Davis should fight for the job. Foster has the upside and youth and can help the future of the team. davis is more of a "quick fix" for the team.....but with Foster on the team they had their fix...who really knows what they are thinking...once again time will tell.
T.S. - "You don't have to love me, but you will [b]RESPECT[/b] me"
Davis will start the year, but he won't finish it. He's a great workhorse RB, but he's taken a beating over the years (kinda like a broken down bus!! hehehe). By picking up Davis, Carolina has given Foster a little more recovery time to come back and claim his spot. Dazey's right tho...Foster is the next big thing for Carolina, which is why they want to make sure everything is fine and dandy before pluggin him into that starting spot.
I tend to disagree with the general vein of thought in this thread. I have absolutely no faith whatsoever that DeShaun Foster will play at all this year. His microfracture surgery is something very difficult to overcome, and will hamper his running ability for the rest of his life. In fact in a study done by the New England Journal of Medicine, patients with similar surgeries reported a 50% decrease in pain after three years followed by a 75% decreae in pain after five years. This is not something that rehabilitation can really alleviate either - the genetic strength of your bones coupled with your white blood cell effectiveness is all that can help.
With all that said, I believe the Panthers are going to rely heavily on Stephen Davis this year, with RB Dee Brown snagging a few carries here and there. I think Foster is the biggest risk player in the world of fantasy football right now. If he plays at all in pre-season, trade him immediately if you can. Just one more properly placed hit and Foster's career is officially over. Look for the Panthers to readdress their RB situation in the 2004 draft.
To me, the contents of this article lower the fantasy prospects of Davis for '03. If Foster is ready at any point next year, Davis will lose some carries to him IMO.
______________________________________
Foster could be ready for camp, 4/24
The Charlotte Observer reports that Panthers' RB DeShaun Foster is progressing so well in his recovery from microfracture knee surgery that he could be ready by the time training camp comes around. Head coach John Fox is cautiously optimistic.
"If you saw him in there working out and walking around, he looks 100 percent," Fox said Wednesday. "The unfortunate thing about the profession we're in is that it's not fairly normal. Until he gets banged around and beat up on and hit, we won't know, and that will not be until training camp when we really, truly understand where he's at with his knee."
Cafe Home
Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
by zaktansky » Tue Apr 29, 2003 1:49 pm 
