Tag: Austin Corbett

Panthers GM Dan Morgan explains why he didn’t select a center from 2024 draft

Panthers GM Dan Morgan obviously feels pretty good about Austin Corbett’s transition to center.

Dan Morgan made seven selections in his very first draft as the Carolina Panthers general manager. None, however, came at the center position.

Why?

After wrapping up their picks on Saturday, Morgan and head coach Dave Canales took some questions from reporters—with the first concerning the lack of a new center.

“We feel really good about Austin Corbett there at center,” he replied. “I think he’s progressing well and I think Dave would say the same thing to you guys. I think him, along with Brady Christensen—he’s been getting some snaps at center. We feel like he has a lot of potential there as well. So we feel good about it, but we’re always gonna be looking to challenge our roster and get better and create that competition.”

Both Corbett and Christensen have been pushed out of the starting guard spots following the team’s pricey free-agent additions of Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt. But, as Morgan has stated, the plan is to convert Corbett to center—a position he has never taken a regular-season snap from.

Nonetheless, Corbett has said that he also feels good about the transition.

“Everywhere I’ve been, everybody on the line will tell you I talk too much as a guard,” he said on Wednesday. “So it’s natural just to kick me in there now and have control anyway. It was inevitable at some point in my career. Every offensive line coach told me, ‘You’re gonna play center at one point. This is what you’re made to do.’ And here in 2024, it’s finally happening.”

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Panthers’ Austin Corbett asked about move to center: ‘It was inevitable’

Austin Corbett on moving to center: “Everywhere I’ve been, everybody on the line will tell you I talk too much as a guard.”

Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Austin Corbett may have too big of a personality to play guard, and that shined through on Wednesday.

Following the team’s second outing of voluntary minicamp, the 28-year-old hog molly spoke about his move from right guard to center. Although he played coy at first, Corbett told reporters that the transition won’t be a challenging one.

“I guess we’ll find out, no?” he replied with a laugh when asked to confirm the switch.

“It’s been fun. I’ve been groomed to be a center my entire career. Kinda even starting back in college. Played every game at left tackle, but my head coach, Brian Polian, he’s like, ‘If you’re gonna play in the league, you’re gonna be a good center. You’re too smart not to.’ From that time, I’ve been constantly groomed to be a center.

“I’ve been the emergency center every team I’ve been on. Constantly taking reps. I was the starting center going into the Super Bowl year back in ’21, through training camp and ended up shifting around. The backup center was healthier than they thought, so shifted back out to right guard. So it’s nothing new, by any stretch of the imagination.”

Corbett has never logged a single regular-season snap from the position. His only in-game action at the spot has come in preseason play, when he lined up at center on 203 plays for the Cleveland Browns in 2019.

Carolina’s free-agent additions of guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis sparked the change for Corbett, who manned the right side of the interior in 2022 and 2023. His recent setbacks might’ve factored into the situation as well, as he missed 13 games this past season due to two knee injuries.

But as he gets back to full health, he says there’s another body part that’ll really give him an advantage in the middle.

“Everywhere I’ve been, everybody on the line will tell you I talk too much as a guard,” he added. “So it’s natural just to kick me in there now and have control anyway. It was inevitable at some point in my career. Every offensive line coach told me, ‘You’re gonna play center at one point. This is what you’re made to do.’ And here in 2024, it’s finally happening.”

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Could 2024 draft prospect Zach Frazier be Panthers’ ‘long-term answer’ at center?

He wouldn’t be a sexy pick, but West Virginia C Zach Frazier might make a ton of sense for the Panthers.

Not since the days of Ryan Kalil have the Carolina Panthers been absolutely locked in at the center position. But that could change, starting with one decision coming up in a few weeks’ time.

As we inch ever closer to the annual announcing of names, ESPN draft analysts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid recently ran down each team’s three greatest needs. With help of Panthers beat reporter David Newton, they landed on the outside linebacker, wide receiver and center positions for Carolina.

And if they’re looking to finally solidify that last area, Reid suggests they could nab West Virginia’s Zach Frazier with one of their first two picks. He writes:

Frazier allowed only three sacks in 1,277 pass-blocking snaps over the past three seasons, and he could be a long-term answer in Carolina.

Thanks to their trade of two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Brian Burns, the Panthers will have a second second-rounder (39th overall) to pair with the draft’s 33rd selection. Either of those could conceivably be used on Frazier, who enters the league as a 2023 first-team All-Big 12 member.

Unfortunately for the 6-foot-3, 313-pound hog molly, that campaign ended on a broken leg he sustained at the end of November. Frazier was not cleared to play in February’s Senior Bowl and limited himself to on-field drills at the scouting combine.

While he may be ready to go by the start of his first NFL season, Frazier could be a developmental investment of sorts for the Panthers—who seem intent on starting Austin Corbett at center in 2024.

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Panthers projected offensive depth chart heading into April

How is the Panthers offense looking as we enter April? Here’s our projected depth chart for the unit as it currently stands:

The offensive overhaul for the Carolina Panthers began on January 25, when they officially named Dave Canales as their new head coach. So, what does the unit look like now?

Since then, Canales and president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan have taken their shared vision into free agency. And as a result, they’ve given the offense a bit of a facelift.

So, as we prepare for April and the 2024 NFL draft, here’s our projected depth chart for the group:

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
QB Bryce Young Andy Dalton
RB Chuba Hubbard Miles Sanders Raheem Blackshear Mike Boone Spencer Brown Tarik Cohen
WR Diontae Johnson David Moore Jalen Camp
WR Jonathan Mingo Terrace Marshall Jr. Michael Strachan Cam Sims
SWR Adam Thielen Ihmir Smith-Marsette
TE Tommy Tremble Ian Thomas Stephen Sullivan Jordan Matthews Chris Pierce
LT Ikem Ekwonu Yosh Nijman Ricky Lee
LG Damien Lewis Brady Christensen Cade Mays
C Austin Corbett
RG Robert Hunt Chandler Zavala Nash Jensen J.D. DiRenzo
RT Taylor Moton Ilm Manning Badara Traore

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Panthers HC Dave Canales gives rationale behind Austin Corbett’s move to center

Panthers HC Dave Canales believes Austin Corbett is up for the challenge of transitioning to the center position.

Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Austin Corbett has yet to log a single regular-season rep from the center position. But that hasn’t been a deciding factor in his move to the very middle of the trench, at least for Dave Canales.

The first-year head coach chatted with reporters at the Annual League Meeting on Tuesday morning. Canales touched on the pricey free-agent signings additions of guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt, stating that he wants to build his team’s identity from the inside out.

Part of that establishing that identity will include a change for Corbett—who has played the vast majority of his NFL snaps from the right guard spot. But according to Canales, it’s Corbett’s identity that should make the transition a smooth one.

“Well, it’s a specific role for a guy who’s a leader,” Canales said, via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com. “You can get away with it when a guy isn’t vocal; you can get away with it when a guy isn’t like the true alpha type of personality. You can get away with that, but you really would love your center to be like the middle linebacker and be the quarterback of the offensive line. And Corbs is that. He’s a man’s man; when he talks, people listen. He’s just natural for this, and for us to have the opportunity to go get the guards that we did to add Austin into that mix as a center to be able to piece it all together, the continuity of the tackles with a couple of new guys, a lot of guys just talking along the line. It’s really a dream scenario. And so I love this challenge.”

Corbett has recorded 3,984 snaps over his six-year career—with 3,442 of them coming at right guard. His only looks at center came during preseason play in 2019, when he lined up on 203 snaps from the middle for the Cleveland Browns.

On top of that challenge, the 28-year-old will be coming back from his second major injury in as many years. After returning from a torn ACL he sustained the 2022 finale, Corbett appeared in just four games this past season before injuring his MCL in the same knee.

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Panthers reportedly plan on moving Austin Corbett to center in 2024

With their two big additions on Monday, the Panthers are reportedly planning on moving Austin Corbett to center this upcoming season.

Now that the Carolina Panthers have found the beef, they have to find a place to put it all. But luckily, there already seems to be a plan for that.

On Monday, the team reportedly came to terms with interior offensive linemen Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis. Hunt is expected to sign a five-year, $100 million pact while Lewis is set for a four-year, $53 million deal.

So, with major investments in a new left guard and a new right guard, what does this mean for the current incumbents in Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett?

According to Joe Person of The Athletic, the Panthers plan on moving Corbett from right guard to the starting center position and Christensen from left guard to the swing tackle role. That would give the offense the following lineup in the trenches:

LT: Ikem Ekwonu
LG: Damien Lewis
C: Austin Corbett
RG: Robert Hunt
RT: Taylor Moton

The middle just opened up on Sunday with news of the impending release of this past season’s starting center in Bradley Bozeman. Corbett has not logged a single snap from the middle over his six-year NFL career, but is seen as a potential fit for the role in head coach Dave Canales’ offense.

Christensen, on the other hand, does carry some appropriate pro experience into this fresh vision. The former third-round pick, who was a standout on the blindside for Brigham Young University, has recorded 370 snaps at left tackle and 71 at right tackle.

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Guard position expected to be free-agent priority for Panthers

Help is likely on the way for Panthers QB Bryce Young.

Often times in the NFL, availability is the best ability. And unfortunately for the Carolina Panthers and rookie quarterback Bryce Young, their guards were frighteningly unavailable in 2023.

The organization, however, will probably look to fix that—as two post-combine reports from Sunday morning indicated that the Panthers are motivated to fortify the interior of their offensive line. Joseph Person of The Athletic wrote the following in his closing thoughts from this year’s scouting combine:

League sources said the Panthers are interested in adding at least one guard this offseason and the position will be a free-agent priority — a nod to Bryce Young’s 5-foot-10 stature but also a response to an absurd number of injuries or inconsistent play at the position in 2023.

ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler seconded that feeling, stating that Carolina is amongst a handful of teams—along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and New York Jets—that “really need guard help.”

The Panthers began the campaign without starting right guard Austin Corbett, who was still recovering from an ACL tear from the 2022 finale. While he eventually hit the field in Week 7, another knee injury would end his year after just four outings.

Carolina’s front also lost their other starting guard, Brady Christensen, just one game into the season. The third-year lineman sustained a biceps injury in the 2023 opener against the Atlanta Falcons and did not return.

By year’s end, the Panthers started six different players at left guard and seven different players at right guard.

In addition, Young would be sacked a total of 62 times—the second-highest mark in the entire NFL.

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Panthers’ 4 biggest needs entering free agency

Much of the Panthers’ 2024 offseason should be spent on helping out Bryce Young.

The Carolina Panthers are fresh off tying an NFL record for the most losses in a 17-game regular season and produced one of the most cringeworthy offenses in recent memory. So, uh, yeah—they have some work to do this offseason.

To make it a bit simpler, let’s check out their four biggest areas of need as we inch closer to free agency.

Panthers great Jonathan Stewart ’empowered’ by Morgan-Canales presser

New Panthers HC Dave Canales definitely has a fan in franchise great Jonathan Stewart.

The Carolina Panthers haven’t won a playoff game since Jonathan Stewart was on the roster. So, much like the rest of the faithful, he’s felt the pain from this franchise for quite some time.

But, the former running back was feeling something much different on Thursday—after the team’s introductory press conference for new president of football operations Dan Morgan and new head coach Dave Canales. He and a handful of other Panthers greats were in attendance at Bank of America Stadium this morning to experience the start of a new era, and it may be something that sticks with them for a while . . .

Stewart then tweeted the following later in the evening:

As far as the legends go, Carolina’s all-time leading rusher was joined by Thomas Davis (obviously), Mike Tolbert, Muhsin Muhammad and Mike Rucker. A few active players—including offensive linemen Ikem Ekwonu, Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett—were also in the seats.

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Austin Corbett reacts to departure of OL coach James Campen

Panthers G Austin Corbett saluted his ole pal James Campen, who has reportedly been dismissed by the team.

Another well-respected coach is reportedly on the outs in Charlotte. And now, another team leader has reacted to the second gut punch.

As first reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport on Friday, the Carolina Panthers will not be retaining offensive line coach James Campen going into the 2024 season. News of this departure quickly followed the reported exit of special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, who also served as the team’s interim head coach for the final six games of the 2023 campaign.

Tabor’s departure was met by a pretty sad tweet from a seemingly disappointed Johnny Hekker. Then, right guard Austin Corbett, who spent the last two seasons with Campen, posted this shortly after:

Even before arriving in Carolina, Campen built up a rock-solid reputation across the league. Including his two seasons with the Panthers, the former offensive lineman has spent 20 years on the NFL sidelines.

Campen, like Tabor, will now be free to pursue other opportunities elsewhere.

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