Carolina Panthers: Top questions on defense entering training camp

How will Thomas Davis’ suspension impact the Panthers?

Unfortunately for Washington, he will be without one of the team’s key leaders for the first quarter of the season. Linebacker Thomas Davis was suspended earlier this offseason for violating the league’s performance enhancing drug policy.

Davis has spent his entire 14 year career with the Panthers and has been one of the leaders for this defense. His play and his ability to overcome injury, whether it was three ACL tears or playing with a broken arm in Super Bowl 50, has allowed him to lead by example.

The leadership on the field isn’t the only thing that will be missing because at 35 years of age, he was still playing at a high level. The combination of Davis, Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson created a number of problems for opposing offenses and was one of the main reasons for this team’s success.

The question for Washington is how does he replace the void left by Davis over the first four games of the season? The likely answer will be that David Mayo will step into the starting lineup in place of Davis. The former fifth round pick has played well when his number has been called, primarily in place of Luke Kuechly at middle linebacker.

The other option the coaching staff will have is to play more nickel defense and utilize Captain Munnerlyn more. The veteran cornerback is one of the better nickel’s in the league and with the athleticism that Kuechly and Thompson possess, they are able to cover a great deal of ground in a short period of time.