5 NFL players who will fall off a cliff in the 2020 season

1. Thomas Davis, LB, Washington Football Team

The longtime playmaker and tackling machine for the Carolina Panthers will wind down his playing days with the Washington Football Team. What a year for it.

Thomas Davis has followed his former boss to the District of Columbia. Head coach Ron Rivera was hired by the Football Team on New Year’s Day 2020 and has already encountered a whirlwind of unparalleled events. The shunning of a racist team nickname, the odd failure to immediately replace said nickname, and explosive reports of a misogynistic team culture are a few of the notables. At least he has a friend in Thomas Davis by his side.

As for the football outlook, Davis has had an illustrious career. But it has to end soon. We do not see old linebackers in the league with much frequency. The collision-based nature of their jobs generally has linebackers out of the game by age 35. Davis will soon follow suit.

Even if Davis conjured more late-career magic, the likelihood is that it will not amount to much team prosperity with the Football Team. Washington is deficient in too many core areas of its roster to flirt with playoff aspirations.

When Davis closes down shop this year or soon after, he can do so knowing that from the moment he entered the league until this snapshot in time, he ranks fifth in the NFL in most total tackles. That will accompany First-Team All-Pro selection from 2015 and his three Pro Bowl nods.