Tag: Pat Elflein

Panthers turn to Bradley Bozeman after 2022 ends for Pat Elflein

With Panthers C Pat Elflein likely done for the season, it’s time for Bradley Bozeman to keep shining.

On Wednesday, Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks all but put a cap on Pat Elflein’s 2022—telling reporters his usual starting center is likely done for the rest of the year. Elflein, who was placed on injured reserve last Saturday, is now likely to undergo season-ending hip surgery.

And now that the usual starting center is no longer the starting center, it’ll be Bradley Bozeman handling this offense’s snaps for the foreseeable future.

Bozeman made his first start last Sunday, an outing met with considerable success in a rout of a stout Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. Pro Football Focus gave the 27-year-old lineman an overall grade of 93.2—the highest single-game grade for any center this season.

Before that sparkling debut, Bozeman was a key cog for the Baltimore Ravens, helping form one of the most consistent and ferocious running games in the league. Whether he was MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson’s primary ball snapper in 2020 or a reliable left guard the three years prior, the University of Alabama product successfully found his place at the pro level.

A notable offseason addition for general manager Scott Fitterer, Bozeman signed with Carolina on a one-year, $2.8 million pact. That, in fact, was a relatively modest amount given his performance in Baltimore.

But, he knew he would get his opportunity to prove his worth with a rebuilding Panthers front. And one game in, he’s done exactly that.

Should he continue the stellar play we saw last week, when he contributed to a dominant run game that averaged over 7.0 yards per carry, he should become a priority for the team this offseason. So will that bet on himself continue to pay off?

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Panthers C Pat Elflein to undergo season-ending surgery

As announced by Panthers interim HC Steve Wilks on Wednesday, C Pat Elflein is likely to undergo season-ending hip surgery.

You’re up, Bradley Bozeman.

On Wednesday, Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks passed down some unfortunate news regarding center Pat Elflein. When asked by Joseph Person of The Athletic about the status of Elflein’s hip injury, Wilks said the 2022 campaign is likely over for the sixth-year veteran.

“Right now, I think he’s pretty much gonna have surgery,” Wilks stated. “And then it will be a season-ending.”

Elflein was placed on injured reserve this past Saturday. If this is indeed it for him in 2022, he’s played in just 15 games through two seasons of his three-year, $13.5 million contract.

In his place, as was the case for Week 7’s upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be Bozeman. The middle of the offensive line should be in good hands—as the 27-year-old, in his very first piece of action, posted Pro Football Focus’ highest single-game grade for any center this season.

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Panthers place C Pat Elflein on IR

The Panthers have placed C Pat Elflein on IR and activated DT Bravvion Roy a day ahead of their Week 7 matchup with the Buccaneers.

Carolina Panthers center Pat Elflein has had himself a solid 2022 campaign. Unfortunately, however, it’ll have to be put on hold.

On Saturday, the Panthers announced they’ve now placed the 28-year-old lineman on injured reserve. Elflein, who has been dealing with a hip injury, missed practice throughout the week in the lead-up to Sunday’s Week 7 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prior to this setback, Elflein played every offensive snap for the Panthers through six games this season. Over that time, he’s earned an overall grade of 59.8 from Pro Football Focus, who has also attributed the sixth-year veteran with just six pressures (one sack) in 219 pass-blocking attempts.

In his place will be Bradley Bozeman, a free-agent signing from this past spring. Bozeman, who was the favorite to initially start at center, sustained a setback of his own—an ankle injury that kept him out action to close out the summer.

Carolina has also activated defensive tackle Bravvion Roy from IR. Roy will provide some much needed depth on the interior of the line tomorrow with the probable absence of starter Matt Ioannidis.

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Panthers Week 7 injury report: C Pat Elflein questionable vs. Buccaneers

The Panthers have the NFL’s only starting offensive line that has played in every snap this season. But that streak will be in serious jeopardy on Sunday.

The Carolina Panthers will already be without their best offensive player in Week 7. Actually, they’ll be without him, period.

So the final injury report leading up to their NFC South clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was particularly disheartening.

Unsurprisingly, as stated by interim head coach Steve Wilks, quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold will not be active for Sunday. That’ll, obviously, give way to PJ Walker under center with Jacob Eason serving as his backup.

Additionally, center Pat Elflein missed his third straight practice with a hip injury, one that’ll very likely keep him out of action for the weekend. If he’s down, Bradley Bozeman will be up and Carolina’s perfect attendance record for its starting offensive line will be broken.

Here’s Friday’s report in full:

Injury Wed. Thurs. Fri. Game status
CB CJ Henderson Concussion DNP Limited Full Questionable
CB Donte Jackson Ankle DNP DNP Full Questionable
LB Cory Littleton Groin Limited Limited Full –
QB Baker Mayfield Ankle DNP Limited Limited Doubtful
DE Henry Anderson Elbow Limited Limited Full –
S Sean Chandler Hamstring Limited Limited Limited Questionable
CB Jaycee Horn Ribs Limited Limited Full Questionable
LB Frankie Luvu Shoulder Limited Limited Full Questionable
WR Laviska Shenault Jr. Hamstring Limited Limited Full Questionable
C Pat Elflein Hip DNP DNP DNP Questionable
DT Matt Ioannidis Neck/Concussion Limited DNP DNP Doubtful
OT Taylor Moton Knee Limited DNP Questionable
RB Raheem Blackshear Knee Full –
DT Derrick Brown Personal DNP –

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Panthers OL dominating in ESPN’s run block win rate

Don’t look now (or do), but the Panthers’ offensive line is making early waves in ESPN’s block win rates.

Although it was certainly recognized by their fan base, the Carolina Panthers’ work on their offensive line this offseason went a bit under the radar. But now, that makeover might be pretty difficult to overlook.

Through three weeks of the 2022 regular season, the Panthers’ front is all over ESPN’s run block win rate stat—both individually and as a unit.

This advanced metric, using player tracking data from NFL Next Gen Stats, measures how well a lineman can hold their assignment. If their block prevents a defender from getting by them, from disrupting or adjusting the pocket or running lane or from recording a tackle within three yards from the line of scrimmage—it’s a win. (And they’re winning alright.)

As far as a group, the line ranks third overall in team run block win rate at 76 percent. They sit behind only the Dallas Cowboys (78 percent) and the Arizona Cardinals (77 percent).

(Heck, they’re even amongst the best in pass block win rate as well—ranking ninth at 65 percent.)

As individuals, four of Carolina’s five starters rank within the top 10 of their positions. Taylor Moton is fifth amongst all tackles (84 percent), Pat Elflein is sixth amongst all centers (76 percent) and Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen are second (81 percent) and eighth (79 percent) amongst guards, respectively.

To be fair, yes, these rates are a product of only three games. But, for a franchise that has been historically negligent and ineffective at building this particular unit up, it’s a much needed breath of fresh air at the moment.

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Secret Superstars for Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar points out the NFL’s great performances by unheralded players in his weekly Secret Superstars team.

There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated.

Perhaps they’re in systems that don’t best show their skills. Maybe they’re buried on a depth chart. Or, they’re in somebody’s doghouse, and their coaches can’t see their potential. Sometimes, young players haven’t quite put it all together, but there are enough flashes to make you sit up and take notice, and when it does work, it’s all good.

Week 1 of the 2022 regular season features players at every position who showed up and showed out despite their underrated statuses, and here at Touchdown Wire, it’s our job to point them out.

Here are the Secret Superstars for Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season.

Panthers to start C Pat Elflein vs. Giants in Week 2

Despite four botched exchanges with Baker Mayfield in Week 1, Panthers C Pat Elflein held up very well in pass protection. And that’s why he’ll be back out there on Sunday.

The Carolina Panthers were about as sharp as a broken pencil for the majority of their season-opening loss to the Cleveland Browns. One of the lowlights of that dull performance, which lasted for about three quarters, came from the offense’s battery.

Whether it was a case of bad chemistry, timing or butterfingers—quarterback Baker Mayfield and center Pat Elflein botched four snaps in Week 1. And although none of those fumbles ended up in the hands of a Cleveland defender, they did play a considerable part in damaging numerous drives.

That, however, isn’t going to deter head coach Matt Rhule from rolling with Elflein again this week against the New York Giants. With Bradley Bozeman still working back from an ankle injury, Rhule said he’ll be going with the same starting offensive line.

“We have the same lineup, the same five are starting right now,” Rhule said. “I think Bradley’s getting back in the groove and the rhythm. But I think Pat played well. Take away, it’s like anything else—if something goes wrong, it’s easy to say, ‘It’s this guy. It’s this guy.’ Sometimes it was a lot of things. So, I thought Pat did a lot of good things in the game. I came away from the game really pleased with the stoutness of our guards and center in the protection game.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Elflein allowed zero pressures of Mayfield on Sunday. His outing was good enough to earn an 80.9 pass-blocking grade from the site—the best amongst all Panthers that afternoon.

Mayfield, who also spoke on Wednesday, agreed with Rhule’s sentiment—saying the messy exchanges won’t be an issue moving forward.

“No, I have not,” Mayfield said when asked if he’s ever been apart of a game with four such plays. “And like I said after the game, that’s on me and we’ll get it fixed. I’m not worried about that, at all. We’ll get that fixed.”

Hopefully for Mayfield, Elflein and the rest of the unit—they’ll take less than three quarters this time to find a solution.

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Panthers HC Matt Rhule isn’t second-guessing QB competition

Did the Panthers waste too many first-team reps on Sam Darnold this summer? Sunday’s performance might say they did, but Matt Rhule isn’t looking back.

Despite trading for Baker Mayfield back on July 6—a pretty clear reaction to the uncertainty of Sam Darnold’s capabilities—Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule was dead set on having himself a quarterback competition this summer. And now, he might be paying the price.

Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Cleveland Browns was largely a comedy of errors, one that was perhaps highlighted by four botched snaps between Mayfield and center Pat Elflein. It was quite apparent, on each and every one of those four (four!) fumbles, that the chemistry just wasn’t there for the offense’s battery.

So, naturally, that gets you to think—did the Panthers waste too much time holding their quarterback battle? Did they take precious first-teams reps away from Mayfield, who was always the heavy favorite to earn the staring job, by entertaining Darnold?

Well, Rhule—who spoke with reporters on Monday following the Week 1 defeat—doesn’t believe so.

“I think the starting competition was what it was,” Rhule said. “I can’t go back. I think we had to do was right for the team and be certain about who our quarterback was. Yesterday was one of 17. The snaps, they were kinda a mixed bag. A couple hit Baker right in the hands, and we kinda expect him to catch those. And one was low.”

Luckily for Carolina, Mayfield did not lose any of those four fumbles. He did, though, struggle mightily throughout the course of the outing—particularly in a painfully disoriented first three quarters.

But, hey, at least there’s 16 more to go!

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Studs and duds from Panthers’ season-opening loss to Browns

Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey didn’t see his usual workload on Sunday. But when he was on the field, he made a noticeable difference.

Sunday’s game was a harsh fallback to reality for what has been a poor last few seasons for the Carolina Panthers and head coach Matt Rhule. Thoughts of revenge and enthusiasm were dusted and downed as quickly as they came up, with the team imploding far too early on in the afternoon.

There were a lot of lessons to be learned from this loss. And while there were certainly a lot of failures to be had, there were also some bright points on both sides of the ball.

Here is some of the good, as well as the bad, from Week 1 defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns.

Panthers C Pat Elflein tells nauseating tale of Christian McCaffrey’s toughness

If you don’t think Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is tough, then listen to this stomach-turning tale from teammate Pat Elflein.

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey may get a bad rap for his fragility. And, unfortunately, that’ll happen when you play in just 10 games over two seasons.

But don’t let anyone tell you this man isn’t tough, especially if you’re Pat Elflein.

McCaffrey’s teammate and Panthers offensive lineman joined Tuesday’s episode of The Colin Thompson Show with host Colin Thompson—who also just so happens to be a teammate. During his chat with the Carolina tight end, Elflein would recall a stomach-turning story of how the All-Pro rusher operates, even in the most nauseating of circumstances.

Well, Elflein recalled correctly . . . almost.

That afternoon on Sept. 19, 2021 saw McCaffrey help lead the Panthers to a dominant 26-7 victory over the visiting New Orleans Saints. He rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries while reeling in five receptions for another 65 yards. (So no second touchdown.)

Regardless, McCaffrey has done and is doing whatever he can to stay on that field—with or without his sodium.

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