Grading Panthers position groups on offense after the 2021 draft

Carolina Panthers OL

The offensive line is an area that has needed to be fixed on the Carolina Panthers for a long time, even before the 2015 Super Bowl run. The decisions made by the front office to address this have always been somewhat of a head-scratcher and that didn’t change with the new front office in 2021.

With a pretty deep crop of starting-caliber lineman available during free agency – some still being available – Carolina signed two borderline backup level players in Pat Elflien and Cam Erving during the first week of free agency. Showing a distinct lack of patience which goes against almost every other position that the team addressed.

That being said, bringing back Taylor Moton on the franchise tag may go down as the best decision the Panthers made along the line this offseason and with good reason. He was an every-game starter that absolutely locked down the right edge over the last three years. Keeping your best player is what the franchise tag is all about.

Bringing back last year’s starter John Miller was another good move that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Consistency is its own brand of quality at the NFL level and keeping a player that knows the playbook is always a plus.

But that thankfully didn’t stop the Panthers from addressing the line during the draft, selecting Brady Christensen in the third round and an absolute unit in Deonte Brown in the sixth.

Christensen is seen as a bit of an odd player at the NFL level even after grading out the highest a tackle ever has according to Pro Football Focus last season given his shorter arms. However, his ability to secure the blindside for Zach Wilson was extraordinary and if he can bring that near-perfect record to the next level, Carolina will be sitting pretty with the best steal of the draft.

While Brown is more of a run-first guard that is just so big, it’s hard to stop him once he gets going and almost impossible to move once the player gets to the point of contact first.

While we shouldn’t expect either to start immediately, Christensen especially has the raw talent to be a longtime starter at left tackle and possibly the heir to Jordan Gross that has been missing for so long.

Grade: C

While some of the Panthers’ early moves were questionable, to say the least, the team finished strong with a steal in Christensen. This group certainly has a ways to go but it seems to finally be on the right track, although not there just yet.