Tommy Stevens might have a chance to play against his former team on Sunday. Per Alaina Getzenberg of the Charlotte Observer, the Carolina Panthers have signed the practice squad QB/TE to their active roster ahead of their Week 17 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.
The move comes after the entire Saints RB room was ruled out for the contest, deemed close contacts to Alvin Kamara, who tested positive for COVID-19. Without any of their top backs, New Orleans figures to be using a lot more of their swiss-army knife offensive weapon Taysom Hill, who is the player Stevens is compared with most.
Stevens played three seasons at Penn State before transferring to Mississippi State and becoming a versatile QB for the Bulldogs. In 2019, Stevens threw for 1155 yards and 11 touchdown passes, while chipping in 381 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He also has some experience with offensive coordinator Joe Brady from their time at Penn State.
The rookie QB/TE end was drafted by New Orleans in the seventh round, then spent a few months on their practice squad as a tight end. The Panthers have played around with his position designation after signing him to their practice squad, but he was most recently listed as a quarterback this week. Still, he has experience lining up at multiple spots, so Brady could get creative without his top running backs in Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis.
In corresponding moves, Carolina placed cornerback Troy Pride, Jr. (hip) on season-ending injured reserve and elevated linebacker Clay Johnston and offensive lineman Aaron Monteiro to the active roster.
