Line 17th per PFF

[top dawg]

17. Carolina Panthers (6)

Top overall grade: LG Andrew Norwell, 85.7 (No. 11)

Top pass-blocking grade: LG Andrew Norwell, 85.2 (No. 14)

Top run-blocking grade: LG Andrew Norwell, 84.8 (No. 4)

The loss of Michael Oher doesn’t seem like a huge deal until you consider that it puts Mike Remmers at left tackle, where he was simply out of his depth. Remmers gave up nine sacks and 49 total QB pressures this season, and was also flagged 15 times. Remmers’ move also opened up another problem position at right tackle. Daryl Williams wasn’t able to make that spot his own, and RG Trai Turner struggled badly when he was moved out there for three games late in the season. Turner’s season was a huge drop in quality from 2015; he was flagged four times more than last year, surrendering twice the number of sacks and 19 additional QB pressures, while not having nearly the same impact as a run blocker. This is a team that needs an injection of talent at the tackle position, but just getting everybody back in their regular positions likely will help significantly.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-offensive-lines-this-season/

 

Coming from the 6th spot is quite a tumble indeed, but you'd think that we were bottom feeders of the league this past season the way that some fans talk. I think that it's fair to ask if the downturn of the O-line is commensurate with the fall of the offense in general (down to 15th, I believe) and individual players whose stats also were negatively impacted to varying degrees.

[AceBoogie]

An offensive line that's ranked 17th,in an offense that requires more time for routes to develop down field, with a qb with an eye for the big play, you will get what you got this year. You have to have a top 10 line at least, with the offense we run. 

[Khyber53]

Injuries were the killer for us over the long haul. Kalil and Oher going out were major blows and Remmers can be a very serviceable right tackle but he struggled on the left side. Of course, it's never just a simple flip from one side of the line to the other... you've got a different job on each play from before and you are generally facing a completely different style of edge rusher.  Combine that with the loss of Kalil's protection calls at the line and he struggled, but with good reason. It shows that Oher really was a find for us. Neither of those two are bound for Canton, but they are better in their regular position than average.

The sad part of it was we had a lot of hope that Williams would come in and just wow us. He... just didn't. And Turner is really a great find at guard, but tackle is too much.

I'd say we need help at the tackle position, but the truth is, every team needs tackles. They aren't skilling up the ones at the college level to meet the needs of NFL teams and the position is really hard to play well AND stay uninjured in. Big guys who are light on their feet, but can maul opponents and play every down and learn an entire playbook just don't grow on trees.

I still think, even without major changes, that we'll be better next year if everyone can come back healthy. There's a lot more experience along the line than there was before and we got to see a couple of good back ups get some time on the field. We may have also found our eventual replacement for Kalil (and let's hope Ryan can stick with us for 5 or 6 more years.)

 

[Saca312]

4 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

 

The sad part of it was we had a lot of hope that Williams would come in and just wow us. He... just didn't. And Turner is really a great find at guard, but tackle is too much.

 

 

Williams barely played much at all. He did real well from the games I saw. 

At the very least, he's an upgrade over Remmers. He shut out Beasley 2 games in a row, unlike Remmers.

Once the o-line got some stability with Larsen at center, Daryl Williams and Trai Turner showed up as of late. Even PFF agreed with that part. 

But really just got to wait it out. I think Daryl Williams is still the future until he proves otherwise. He's shown great flashes these past few games, and he's better than Remmers at everything.

Just need a healthy line period.

[TheSpecialJuan]

I guarantee you Gman will give Norwell a contract extension this offseason.

[JawnyBlaze]

58 minutes ago, top dawg said:

 

Coming from the 6th spot is quite a tumble indeed, but you'd think that we were bottom feeders of the league this past season the way that some fans talk. I think that it's fair to ask if the downtown of the O-line is commensurate with the fall of the offense in general (down to 15th, I believe) and individual players whose stats also were negatively impacted to varying degrees.

Sounds like you put weight in PFF.  Nobody is going to dupe me into believing we were in the top 28 or so OLs in the league. 

[Saca312]

56 minutes ago, JawnyBlaze said:

Sounds like you put weight in PFF.  Nobody is going to dupe me into believing we were in the top 28 or so OLs in the league. 

Lol. If Cam had the Broncos O-line...

We'd be contemplating whether Cam retires immediately. Believe it or not we just have mediocre tackles, not bad.

This offense requires good tackles though, which is why the situation seems worse than it really is

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, JawnyBlaze said:

Sounds like you put weight in PFF.  Nobody is going to dupe me into believing we were in the top 28 or so OLs in the league. 

Nothing is perfect, and probably can't be considering all of the dynamics that go into judging a player and a football team, but for all the flack PFF gets, it is arguably the best grading system out there. Mind you, I didn't say perfect or all-inclusive, but a pretty good reference.

As for our line, I've seen worse this year. Some of the teams we played had worse, and PFF's rankings reflect that. There are probably multiple posters on multiple football message boards across the Internet who are saying something similar to you about their team's O-line. The notion that "Our team has the worst O-line in the league," is not unique to the Panthers, or even a rare occurrence in general.

The fact is, we had a middle-of-the-pack O-line, and should have had at least a middle-of-the-pack type of result. Injuries, play calling, lack of imagination, lack of execution, inexperience, and a generally uninspired effort caused us to fall even further than we should have.

[Khyber53]

13 hours ago, Saca312 said:

Williams barely played much at all. He did real well from the games I saw. 

At the very least, he's an upgrade over Remmers. He shut out Beasley 2 games in a row, unlike Remmers.

Once the o-line got some stability with Larsen at center, Daryl Williams and Trai Turner showed up as of late. Even PFF agreed with that part. 

But really just got to wait it out. I think Daryl Williams is still the future until he proves otherwise. He's shown great flashes these past few games, and he's better than Remmers at everything.

Just need a healthy line period.

Your last sentence is probably the biggest truth when it comes to a successful offensive line. If they stay healthy, they can be good. Almost every o-line starts to crumble at the first injury, by the second it becomes a disaster. Even Dallas' much-vaunted O-line would be hard pressed to lose two members and still be able to protect.

[pantherj]

It's obvious that the top priority needs to be the o-line. Either bring in top o-line free agents, or take the best the draft has to offer. Enough with wasted defensive picks that have minimal impact on the game. This is a passing league and the rules favor the receivers. Cam wants to go over the top of the defense with his throws, so the o-line needs to be premium. We need to be scoring in the 30's.

[panther4life]

16 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

I guarantee you Gman will give Norwell a contract extension this offseason.

We'd be better served waiting until next year. He's a restricted free agent. Can slap a 2nd round tender on him for 2.5 Million

[AceMan]

This is why Shula needs to go.  This offense requires too much just for it to be good. A slightly below average line looks like crap under Shula.

[AU-panther]

The fact we were that high is a bit impressive.  People seem to devalue the effect of injuries.  I know every team deals with some injuries but ours were abnormally high.

At certain points this year we had a 2nd or 3rd string LT, 2nd or 3rd string center, 2nd string RG,  and 2nd or 3rd string RT.  Often times we had those backups playing at the same time.  There aren't many teams in the league who survive that.

By no means am I saying we shouldn't look for upgrades but if the line gets healthy we aren't near as bad as some on here think.

[Adb6368]

I'm confused how us not protecting Cam Newton is the 'problem' meanwhile literally the worst offensive line in the league (Seattle) according to PFF won 10 games and received a 1st round bye this year. It's almost like they know how to disguise their weaknesses and win despite of them while we are using our weaknesses as an excuse to be bad.