Starting Five Has Been Decided for Panthers' O-Line

The offensive line has seen a lot of changes not only from last season but within just the last couple of weeks. At the start of training camp in Spartanburg, the Panthers' first-team o-line consisted of Brady Christensen, Michael Jordan, Pat Elflein, Austin Corbett, and Taylor Moton.

We all knew that at some point, first-round pick Ikem Ekwonu would maneuver his way into the starting spot at left tackle which would kick Christensen inside to left guard, thus kicking Michael Jordan out of the starting lineup. Last week, that domino effect took place when head coach Matt Rhule named Ekwonu the starting left tackle.

“We wanted Ickey to play and put it on tape in a game before we put him with the ones,” Rhule said following the first of two joint practices with the Patriots. “We wanted him to go in a game and play and earn [it] with his play."

The current makeup of the offensive line is night and day from what it was a year ago when the starting five included the likes of Cameron Erving, Michael Jordan, and John Miller. It's certainly an improved unit but could be even better once Bradley Bozeman returns from an ankle injury that he suffered during a joint practice with the Patriots. He was seen off to the side working on snaps with the sled during Tuesday's practice and appeared to be ahead of schedule. Once healthy, he will challenge Elflein for the starting center spot.

As for now, though, Rhule has his starting five.

"Yeah, I think if we played today, we'd play with the five you guys have seen. [Bradley] Bozeman is a guy that is contending to start but he's been out and will still be out for a while. For the immediate future, we have those five guys. Cam Erving, to me, has had a great camp. He's a five-position backup, you don't find many of those in this league. Cade Mays, Deonte Brown. Michael Jordan is a guy that we know could start for us. Dennis Daley has been really solid since coming back so there's a lot of really good players there. I feel really good about the depth of that o-line. But if we played today, we'd play those five."

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