Ahead of training camp, we’re taking a look at each position on the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 squad, evaluating the changes since 2020 and projecting the unit’s outlook for this season.
Following our evaluations of the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends, we’ll turn to the final position group on offense: the offensive line.
Major changes: Filling holes up front
One of the first (and possibly worst) free agency signings by GM Scott Fitterer in Carolina was veteran journeyman Cameron Erving, who now projects to be the team’s starter at LT. That could end in disaster though, with Pro Football Focus ranking him as their lowest-graded offensive lineman in the entire league over the last three seasons.
The Panthers have also tried to address the offensive line via the NFL draft, most notably with then-GM Marty Hurney’s trade up for Greg Little in the 2019 draft. Now, Little’s slow development and injury-plagued career look to put him on the roster bubble, replaced by anyone from a veteran to a rookie.
With the selection of Little now going down as one of Hurney’s worst mistakes, Fitterer took his shot at filling the hole at LT by drafting Brady Christensen in the third round of this year’s draft. Christensen started three years at left tackle for the pro-style offense at BYU and even became PFF’s highest-graded offensive lineman ever in his senior season.
The Panthers also addressed a less significant need at guard through the draft, selecting the outstanding run blocker Deonte Brown in the sixth round and signing undrafted free agent and Senior Bowl standout David Moore. They also signed veteran Pat Elflein to a three-year deal.
The big question: Will the Panthers finally find stability at left tackle?
The Panthers have struggled to fill the left tackle position since All-Pro Jordan Gross retired in 2013. Over the last eight years, the team has tried out plenty of short-term solutions, only to lose them to free agency, poor performance and plenty of injuries. This offseason has seen much of the same after the team let Russell Okung walk.
Unless Erving turns around his entire six-year career to become the long-term solution in Carolina, the team will be looking at an unproven option to protect Sam Darnold’s blindside.
The only exception to that comes if Matt Rhule tries out the team’s most consistent lineman on the opposite side of his natural position. Taylor Moton, who signed a four-year, $71.25 million extension with the team less than an hour before the franchise tag deadline, has already taken practice reps at left tackle this offseason. The move wouldn’t come without risk, as the first player to try out that switch in the post-Gross era— Byron Bell— was not re-signed by Carolina the year following that campaign.
Better or worse? Worse
Carolina may have even less stability on the left side of the line than last year, and that’s saying a lot. Other than Moton, the rest of the offensive line group has either remained the same or gotten thinner. Even though Okung’s 2020 campaign was plagued with injury, replacing him with Erving is a definitive downgrade. Now, the team’s future at left tackle could rest on the shoulders of Christensen, though we expect him to kick off his career as a rotational lineman with the Panthers. The interior is similar to last year when the entire group ranked nearly dead last in pass protection.
The major win for the group was the extension of Moton, but in terms of productivity, we can’t expect much more from the fifth-year lineman who allowed just three sacks playing 100% of offensive snaps in 2020.
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