David

Nixon

Nixon, a former All-Mountain West Conference second-teamer at BYU, went undrafted in 2009. He’ll compete for a spot on special teams in training camp.

A fourth-round pick out of Oregon State last season, Norris struggled to make the transition from college defensive end. Cooper was originally drafted by the Raiders way back in 2001. He was out of the league for all of 2007-08.

A special teamer, Nixon notched 10 tackles in four games between the Rams and Texans last season. His stay on the active roster could be short.

An undrafted free agent out of BYU in 2009, Nixon appeared in eight games for the Rams last season, notching six special teams tackles. He won’t see snaps on defense in Carolina in the unlikely event he cracks the 53-man roster.

Smith failed to impress in minicamps after being claimed off waivers from the Browns in May. The Panthers signed LB David Nixon to take Smith’s roster spot.

Nixon was an undrafted free agent out of BYU in 2009. He had spot duty with the Texans and Rams last season as a special teamer.

A 2009 undrafted free agent out of BYU, Nixon recorded 10 tackles in three games with the Texans earlier this season. He’ll add depth at linebacker with Na’il Diggs out for the season.

Nixon was limited to special teams in his Rams debut. The team isn’t putting him on injured reserve in hopes that Nixon can play with a cast on the hand.

Nixon did have six tackles as the weakside linebacker in the second half against the Chiefs with DeMeco Ryans (Achilles’) out, but he’s been inactive in three games so far. The Texans expect to get Darryl Sharpton, Xavier Adibi, and Kevin Bentley back healthy during the bye week.