Panthers' Offensive Will Have Growing Pains, But It Might Not Matter

The Carolina Panthers are very fortunate to have such a deep offensive line that two crushing injuries to starters haven't set them back all that much. Losing Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton hurts, but the Panthers are the rare team with the ability to replace them.

Signing Rasheed Walker for an incredibly cheap deal and drafting Monroe Freeling in the first round means the Panthers have two starting-caliber tackles that would, with a fully healthy roster, probably both be on the bench.

Obviously, there's talent up front. But there's little chemistry, at least not right now. There are three new starters up front, and the two mainstays missed some time in preseason, so a lack of continuity could really hurt the Panthers.

There will be some growing pains, especially since the Panthers are entrusting the right side to a rookie who was initially viewed more as a long-term project than a day-one starter. That much is true.

What's also true is that it might not matter as much as it seems.

Panthers are somewhat well-equipped to withstand offensive line growing pains

Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker (63) blocks Buffalo Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Monroe Freeling is going to have some growing pains. For as talented as he is, he's still very young and relatively inexperienced. All that athleticism will only get someone so far at the NFL level.

Rasheed Walker is a multi-year starter, and Luke Fortner has plenty of NFL experience, so they won't be adjusting to the NFL game. They will, however, be adjusting to playing with one another.

Freeling has never played an NFL snap with anyone. Walker's never played a regular-season NFL snap with anyone on his current offensive line. The same is true of Fortner, and guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt haven't played NFL snaps with their new linemates.

And in the preseason, both Lewis and Hunt missed time (and the starters didn't play all that much anyway), so these players basically have little idea how to play as a unit. That will take some time, so when the Chicago Bears come to town, don't expect it to look like a finished product.

Soft launching a fresh spin on an advanced metric pic.twitter.com/p86QvsTIdl
— Steven Patton (@PattonAnalytics) September 3, 2026

But the Panthers might be able to survive that. The above chart showcases how good Bryce Young is at avoiding sacks when pressured. He's not very big and he's not the most athletic, but he's not easy to take down.

The top right region of that chart is where the good QBs, at least in this metric, lie. Young is in company with Joe Burrow, C.J. Stroud, and Jayden Daniels. Few quarterbacks are definitely better at this than Young.

So, yes, the Panthers will likely see some breakdowns in pass protection for the first few weeks, and there will be miscommunications and outright failures up front. Young, however, is a good QB to have behind those issues as he can mitigate them pretty well.

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