The Carolina Panthers have decided to place the franchise tag on center Ryan Kalil,? leaving one of the more interesting fantasy players available from the dreaded tag. DeAngelo Williams had a poor 2010 season, but so did most players in Carolina.

At 27 years old, and accompanied by injuries, some may wonder which way William’s career might be heading.  His ability to bounce back this season may be an easy transition, or a series of things to come. Mind you, with such great hands and elusive quickness, DeAngelo Williams could very well be a highly sought after running back in free agency this season. -Making for one interesting possible free agent Fantasy Sleeper.

Williams will be a UFA if the NFL season is a go, and to this point, he and agent Jimmy Sexton have had no talks with the team about re-signing with the Panthers.

The Panthers placed RB DeAngelo Williams on injured reserve after only seven games into the 2010 season. He was bothered by a foot sprain suffered on the game-winning drive against San Francisco 49er’s: Oct 24. Williams also had a knee injury adding to his set backs and forcing the team to pull the plug on the season.

Williams averaged 4.1 yards per carry and had one rushing TD before being shut down for the year. He should be fully healed for whatever team he might play for next season.

After 2 explosive 08′ and 09′ seasons, Williams should be a risk vs. reward RB in both the NFL and fantasy.  The fifth-year back holds franchise records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, something that shouldn’t be taken too lightly. Fans will hope he remains with the team, but with the emergence’s of Mike Goodson, the Panthers may look to spend their money elsewhere.

On the brighter side: I can tell you that the news of Williams possible departure definitely has awoken Fantasy owners of Jonathan Stewart.  Stewart also had a terrible 2010 campaign, but the combination of sharing carries and poor offensive output was blame that can all round. Stewart, an NFL stud that saw his 08′ and 09′ seasons with back to back 10 rushing scores, should move up fantasy boards if awarded the starting job. The offensive system is still too early to predict what goes where in Carolina, but already we are getting some much needed fantasy gossip to stir into our cups.  Stay tuned!