Panthers: Statistically Finding Andrew Norwell’s Replacement

Offensive line stalwart Andrew Norwell‘s exit this offseason left a gaping hole at left guard for the Carolina Panthers. Let’s use some rough statistics to find the best-suited replacement…

Andrew Norwell was signed by the Carolina Panthers in 2014 after going undrafted, and he started at left guard consistently the last few seasons. However, his hefty price tag after huge improvement the last couple of seasons led to his exit from Carolina this offseason.

The Panthers just couldn’t afford to make Norwell the highest-paid guard in the league at the time, as Jacksonville did, especially after signing right guard Trai Turner to a large, well-deserved deal last offseason.

That said, I’ve created a rough statistic to measure Andrew Norwell’s most likely replacements on the roster. The score given to each player has a few moving parts.

To measure recent performance, I use the ratings given to players by Pro Football Focus and the launch ratings given to players by EA Sports in Madden 19. Times are tough, I know.

To take into account each player’s natural ability, I use the ratings given to players at the start of their careers by the NFL through their draft profile service. To make the numbers easier, I’ve scaled them to 100, like each of the other factors.

Finally, to account for the ever-present age factor and coaches’ favor of youth in general, I use basic math to give each players’ age a score out of 100 (the player’s age taken away from 100).

Each of the four factors is weighted equally, and the player is given a final score out of 100 (the average of all four factors). Just to give some perspective, Andrew Norwell’s score on said scale is a 76.25 out of 100. The highest score from a possible replacement on the roster is a 65.90. Like I said – times are tough.

Last season, Norwell was given a rating of 88.8 by Pro Football Focus and 91 by EA Sports in Madden 19. He was also given a rating of 51.2 by the NFL at the start of his career. Finally, his age of 26 earns him a mark of 74. These factors bring his final score to the said 76.25.

I’ve chosen four players to evaluate today – the four players on the roster most likely to take the wheel at left guard this season. The players are ordered from lowest to highest in score.