The knee injury that cut short Buccaneers running back Cadillac Williams’ 2007 season was serious enough that there have been doubts he’ll be able to play in 2008.

But Williams says he’ll be ready to go.

“Oh yeah, no doubt,” Williams tells Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times. “I definitely have a great shot. I feel good about it.”

Still, the torn patellar tendon that Williams suffered on September 30 against the Carolina Panthers was serious enough that Williams feared that his career was over.

“You’re laying in bed, you’re doing rehab and you can’t move your leg,” Williams said. “So you start to think that even though the doctor is telling you, ‘Whoa, they’re just speculating, be patient.’ But we’re human. You get to thinking like, ‘Man, maybe it is [career threatening]’.”

Williams tells Stroud he’s rehabbing with light squats, running up the stairs at Raymond James Stadium, jogging and running at full speed in the pool. Although Williams says he hopes to be ready to go by training camp, a more realistic expectation might be that he’ll start the season on the Buccaneers’ physically unable to perform list.

If healthy, Williams is likely to be the starter in Tampa Bay. If Williams can’t play, running backs Earnest Graham, Michael Bennett and the newly signed Warrick Dunn will all compete for carries.