Carolina Panthers: Offensive line performing as a “fist”

One of the biggest concerns for the Carolina Panthers coming into this season was the offensive line.

After Sunday’s special game for both him and the team, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel remarked that “the linemen were getting people up off the ground.”

It was Samuel’s first time playing in the regular season since Week 9 of the 2017 season, during which he suffered a nasty season-ending ankle injury, right as he seemed to be breaking out. The rookie second-rounder had 45 receiving yards in the game when a Dolphins defensive back fell onto his ankle in the end zone, fracturing it and thwarting Samuel’s first career touchdown.

He more than made up for it on Sunday.

After missing the first three games of the season with a medical illness, Samuel obviously decided he needed to atone for that missed opportunity. Twisting and turning through multiple New York defenders, Samuel played running back on his 25-yard receiving touchdown in the first quarter.

There was no way quarterback Cam Newton was going to give a kid that football.

While Samuel certainly made a play, it wouldn’t have happened without the offensive line. Chris Clark and Ryan Kalil played almost as big a part in the touchdown as Samuel, laying two key blocks as he ran downfield.

It was reminiscent of C.J. Anderson‘s game-changing score against Cincinnati in Week 3, when he received help from both Clark and Kalil on a 24-yard catch-and-run touchdown from almost the exact same spot of the field where Samuel scored. After the win, Clark joked that “as an [offensive line], whenever we get in space, that’s camera time for us.”

Clark, Kalil, and the rest of the line have made good on plenty of camera time.

Coming into the 2018 season, the offensive line was debatably the biggest question mark on the entire Panthers roster. Especially with Andrew Norwell leaving to become the NFL’s highest-paid guard in Jacksonville.

At the beginning of training camp, it was assumed that the starters would be as follows: Matt Kalil at left tackle, Amini Silatolu at left guard, Ryan Kalil at center, Trai Turner at right guard, and Daryl Williams at right tackle. However, all five of those presumed starters have been injured at some point throughout the preseason and regular season, with both Williams and M. Kalil landing on injured reserve.

Now, the offensive line starters are as follows: Chris Clark at left tackle, Greg Van Roten at left guard, Ryan Kalil at center, Trai Turner at right guard, and Taylor Moton at right tackle. If you had told anyone familiar with Carolina’s roster the week before training camp that the line would be headed by those five men, they would have choked on their gum, snorted milk out of their nose, and laughed at you until they got light-headed.

And I say “men” rather than “players” because, as of less than a month ago, Clark was sitting on his couch watching football – unemployed.

Not only are the offensive linemen exceeding expectations, but they’re excelling and are arguably a strength of the Panthers team – something no one thought possible entering this season. Headlined by Moton, four of the five starters are rated as “above average” or better by Pro Football Focus.

Ranking Moton as the fifth-best tackle in the league, which garners him a “high quality” rating. Turner, R. Kalil and Van Roten follow with “above average” ratings, with Kalil ranking as the thirteenth-best center in the league. Finally, Clark sits at a solid “average” rating.

When Williams finishes his eight-game stint on injured reserve, Moton can move over to left tackle, relegating Clark to the bench. This lineup would leave the Panthers with two top-tier tackles and two former Pro Bowl nominees in Kalil and Turner. Williams was a second-team All-Pro tackle last year.

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Clark perfectly sums up the offensive line’s attitude: “If one of us misses a block, we all miss a block. We are a fist.”

Just as a fist has five fingers, the Carolina offensive line has five talented players that form a deadly combination when put to the test. And Clark, the pinkie, should be upgraded by Williams in the near future. Imagine a hand with a second index finger in place of the pinkie.

Deadly.

The offensive line’s performance has paved the way for Carolina to rank first in the league in rushing yards, second in rushing attempts and third in yards per rush. In addition, the Panthers rank sixth in sacks allowed, with only 1.8 per game.

Before the season, the Carolina offensive line was an afterthought, something that Ron Rivera lost sleep over. Now it’s a deadly fist capable of opposing its will.

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