With the first weekend of Carolina Panthers Training Camp over and done with, let’s take a look at all of the happenings over the weekend.

First off, in sticking with our number one storyline from last week, Jake Delhomme threw in two out of the three practices (the second one on Saturday Delhomme sat out, but that is normal for camp). What’s more is that Delhomme never once had to ice his elbow after throwing. Delhomme was actually asked by a reporter if he was going to ice, and he said he hadn’t even though about it, which is a fantastic sign that his elbow has healed up and he is ready to go. The fact that Delhomme is feeling to good in camp right now, backs up some of the comments made by Head Coach John Fox and other players during mini-camp, saying Delhomme actually looks stronger and healthier than ever.

Sticking with the offense, Toniu Fonoti has the starting job at right guard, at least for the moment. Fonoti will still have to perform well and beat out his competition in Keydrick Vincent and Milford Brown, but it’s good to see that Coach Fox ad others feel that Fonoti has done a good job bringing his weight down enough in order to take the starting job in practice.

There were some changes on the defensive side of the ball as well, linebacker Thomas Davis switched from strongside to weakside linebacker in a move that the Coaches feel should allow Davis to make more of an impact. Also, Julius Peppers remained on the right side of the line, as he did in mini-camp. Peppers, if you can believe it, actually looks stronger and faster than ever, working very hard over the offseason to get back to the level of performance he’s used to.

As for the rookies, Jonathan Stewart, Jeff Otah, and safety Charles Godfrey all had reps with the first team in practice, Godfrey receiving comments from Coach Fox and his fellow players about how quickly he has been able to adapt to the defense. Stewart still has to compete with DeAngelo for the starting job, but Otah and Godfrey are the presumed starters at their positions, and don’t really have a whole lot of competition, which means the Panthers are really relying on them to perform at their best.

Finally John Beason and Chris Harris have become team leaders with the retirement of Mike Rucker and release Dan Morgan. This amount of leadership given to such a young player in Beason is pretty unique, and shows the quality in the Panthers number one pick of last year’s draft. Beason looks to be a star in the making.

Tags: carolina panthers, delhomme, Training Camp