For those of you who saw the Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins preseason game on Fox Thursday night, you saw one of the rookies who I think will have an enormous impact in the NFL this year.

There have been some really good one's in the past.  Randy Moss was highly successful out of the gate at the wide receiver position for the Minnesota Vikings; even Carnell 'Cadillac' Williams spurred out of the shoots for Tampa Bay last season.  Next to emerge?  Panthers rookie running back DeAngelo Williams.

Selected late in the first round of Memphis, Williams was a heralded college player, but doesn't receive nearly the fanfare of Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart or Vince Young.  Some are even calling for Laurence Maroney, a first round pick by the New England Patriots out of Minnesota, to be the immediate impact rookie. 

On Thursday night, Williams returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, impressively speeding by everyone on his way to the end zone.  Though his rushing numbers weren't incredible, he still managed to average nearly five yards per carry despite a couple of losses, and broke off a few nice runs.  There are many people out there who do fantasy football that think 'wait a minute... this guy will hardly see the field with DeShaun Foster ahead of him.'  Hold that thought.

Foster, a good back and I have no problem admitting that, has never played all 16 games in an NFL season.  Nor has he ever rushed for over 900 yards  in a season.  I'm not saying for sure Williams will run the ball enough enough to break 1000 or play in every game.  However, if he does get in I doubt he ever comes out.  This guy is special -- I'm stating it right here, right now.  Whether he runs the ball much or is just used on kickoff returns, he's a dangerous weapon to have and a valuable one for a Carolina Panthers team that already owns a good defense, star receiver in Steve Smith, picked up Keyshawn Johnson in the off-season, and start the somewhat underrated /under appreciated Jake Delhomme at quarterback.    

So those of you who have seen my magazine preview already [see the Predictions page too] -- now you know why I think so highly of Williams!