4 key observations from Carolina Panthers preseason win at Commanders
By Miles Ruder
Carolina Panthers OL was a mixed bag
The Carolina Panthers offensive line saw massive overhauls this offseason after allowing the fifth-most sacks in 2021. To rectify this, they signed right guard Austin Corbett and center Bradley Bozeman while also drafting a left tackle in Ikem Ekwonu. Even with the new additions, there are still growing pains to go through in order to put together the best possible lineup.
The starting unit came out to be Brady Christensen, Michael Jordan, Pat Elflein, Corbett, and Taylor Moton. The group as a whole allowed zero sacks but the individual performances varied.
Corbett and Moton had no issues. Jordan and Elfein, on the other hand, were beaten multiple times on the opening drive. Christensen stayed solid in pass protection, proving to be a valuable option at left tackle moving forward.
Bozeman and Ekwonu, Carolina’s first-round draft pick, came in with the second-team offense led by Sam Darnold. The No. 6 overall selection held his own despite lining up against veteran edge rusher Montez Sweat for most of his reps. He did get beat in the red zone on Darnold’s touchdown pass but had a solid NFL preseason debut.
The offensive line proved to lack depth and it became very apparent when P.J. Walker and Matt Corral were leading the charge. The two quarterbacks were sacked three times combined while the third-round pick was pressured on numerous dropbacks.
Overall, it was promising to see the 1s protect effectively on occasions. But it would be nice to see the starting lineup integrate the two pieces Carolina spent premium resources to acquire.