4 major regrets for the Carolina Panthers during Matt Rhule’s tenure
By Dean Jones
What are some major regrets the Carolina Panthers won’t look back on fondly during the reign of Matt Rhule as head coach?
It’s been a difficult start for Matt Rhule over his first two seasons with the Carolina Panthers. The head coach has managed to accumulate 10 wins and even though speculation surrounding his job status came to nothing this offseason, he can ill-afford further regression during a critical Year 3 of his tenure.
Rhule is saying all the right things. The Panthers did a good job of keeping him out of the firing line in front of the media earlier this year as the organization put general manager Scott Fitterer front and center once the 2021 season came to a conclusion.
There have been some substantial changes to playing personnel and the coaching staff under Rhule in recent months. Another strong indicator that lessons have been learned, which will hopefully come with some encouraging progress where it counts in 2022.
With this in mind, we took a look at four major regrets for the Panthers during Rhule’s time with the franchise.
Major Regret No. 1
Carolina Panthers didn’t prioritize OL early enough
This thankfully changed during the 2022 offseason, but the Carolina Panthers should have prioritized strengthening the offensive line much sooner than they did. A series of mistakes and significant gambles in free agency didn’t come off and it wasn’t until this spring that the organization took a premier protector during the draft in the form of Ikem Ekwonu.
The likes of Cam Erving, John Miller, and Pat Elflein are just some examples. Carolina’s trade for Russell Okung left them without a Pro Bowl guard in Trai Turner and also brought little in the way of availability.
Despite the previous doom and gloom, there is now legitimate hope that the Panthers finally have a stable offensive line for whoever is under center to work behind. Something they have not had for a long, long time.