{"id":6260,"date":"2016-11-16T15:08:43","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T20:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=6260"},"modified":"2021-03-20T15:58:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T19:58:16","slug":"struggles-carolina-panthers-offensive-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/11\/16\/struggles-carolina-panthers-offensive-line\/","title":{"rendered":"The Continuing Struggles of the Carolina Panthers Offensive Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2015 iteration of the Carolina Panthers<\/strong> will be remembered by fans as a lovely, unexpected rain of love and tremendous letdown. After a 7-8-1 campaign in 2014, Ron Rivera<\/a><\/strong> came into the the season feeling the heat from fans and local media. He came out of the gates and rattled off one of the best four starts in NFL history, leading the team to a 14-0 record start to the season. They would finish the regular season with a 15-1 record, en route to their second Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they fell\u00a0quite convincingly in the Super Bowl to the Denver Broncos<\/strong>. The Super Bowl got out of hand quickly, and the Panthers have seemingly never recovered.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Continuing Struggles of the Carolina Panthers Offensive Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Breaking Down the Super Bowl Hangover<\/h3>\n

There were a clear multitude of offensive factors contributing to the Super Bowl loss. Regular season MVP Cam Newton<\/a><\/strong> had trouble dissecting the looks given to him by the Denver defense. Ted Ginn<\/a><\/strong> and the diminished Carolina receiving corps failed to help Cam out of tough situations. Additionally, offensive coordinator Mike Shula<\/strong> abandoned their potent and multidimensional running game far too early. However, the most notable flaw was obvious to even the casual fan. The Denver pass rush was able to get to Newton with ease, dominating the Panthers at every position along the offensive line.<\/p>\n

Through the first 82 games of Newton\u2019s career, Cam has been hit an astonishing 831 times \u2013 an average of nearly 10 a game. While this number accounts for hits taken by the quarterback in the pocket or on the run, the number is still remarkably high. The next most hit quarterback has taken nearly 300 less shots over the\u00a0same time frame. Since the Panthers used their number one overall pick on Newton in 2011, they have taken strikingly few opportunities to protect the health of their franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n

Why is Cam Taking So Many Hits?<\/h3>\n

It would be easy to blame play-calling and Newton’s running style for all of the hits he has taken. While this tells part of the story, there’s much more to it. Since\u00a0Cam was drafted, Carolina has taken only two offensive lineman in the first three rounds of the draft \u2013 both guards. Left guard Amini Silatolu<\/a><\/strong>, who is no longer with the team, was a second round pick in 2012. Carolina then used a third rounder in 2014 on right guard Trai Turner<\/a><\/strong>. While Turner has emerged as potentially the best O-lineman on the team, he is more of a force in the rushing game. During the same stretch, the Panthers drafted only a singe offensive tackle. A fourth round pick in 2015 was spent on the current backup right tackle, Daryl Williams<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Left tackle has been a revolving door ever since Cam took over under center. When three-time Pro Bowler\u00a0Jordan Gross<\/a><\/strong> retired following the 2013 season, Byron Bell<\/a><\/strong>, an undrafted free agent out of New Mexico<\/strong>, started 15 games at left tackle in 2014. Entering the 2015 campaign, Carolina signed\u00a0Michael Oher<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to take over for the struggling Bell. Oher ranked as the\u00a074th best tackle out of 78 qualifying\u00a0in 2014 by Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

Issues Exposed in the Super Bowl<\/h3>\n

Oher was serviceable, to put it nicely, during the 2015 regular season tear. Newton’s remarkable MVP season covered most of the veteran tackle’s flaws. However,\u00a033-year-old DeMarcus Ware<\/a><\/strong> utterly embarrassed Oher in front of the entire nation during the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

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It looks like Michael Oher was playing on ice.. https:\/\/t.co\/BE9bQ2Gglc<\/a><\/p>\n

— NFL_Central (@Central_NFL) February 10, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n