Saturday’s selection of Chandler Zavala makes a lot more sense now.
Following that pick, the 114th of the 2023 NFL draft, Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer and head coach Frank Reich spoke to reporters about their Day 3 activity. When speaking on the North Carolina State University hog molly, Reich said adding depth to the offensive line was particularly important due to the recovery of Austin Corbett.
“It’s no secret, everybody knows you need depth at o-line and you need competition,” he said. “Obviously, with Corbett’s injury and him gonna be missing some time at the beginning of the year, it was something Scott and I talked about. We need to find somebody to come in there and compete and find the right mix in the interior.”
That somebody was Zavala, who played left guard for the Wolfpack over the past two seasons. He’ll be providing some insurance while Corbett, who tore his ACL in the season finale against the New Orleans Saints, works his way back to the field.
Reich, when asked to elaborate on his initial reference to Corbett, confirmed the starting right guard is expected to miss some games at the beginning of the regular season. He also added that starting left guard Brady Christensen, who sustained a broken ankle in that same game, should be “good to go” to kick off the campaign.
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