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Earlier this year, Carolina Panthers lineman Austin Corbett had to defend his reputation. However, he recently landed the starting position at center for the Panthers, according to a post on X by Ian Rappport.
“A few injury and position updates: — #Panthers coach Dave Canales announces that Austin Corbett is the starting center.”
Corbett had a battle with Cade Mays for the starting position, and Canales solved the situation early in the preseason.
Panthers HC Dave Canales making key decisions
Carolina’s starting offensive line now has Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt surrounding Corbett at center. Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton will be starters at tackle positions, according to ESPN.
The Panthers have a solid offensive line, according to Pro Football Focus. They ranked No. 11 in the NFL.
“Draft picks and free-agent acquisitions paid off for the Panthers in 2024, with arguably the NFL's worst offensive line becoming a top-10 unit,” Zoltán Buday wrote. “If right guard Robert Hunt can find his old form, he will pair with Damien Lewis to be one of the best guard duos in the NFL. The same can be said about Carolina’s tackles. The team will need left tackle Ikem Ekwonu to take a step forward in his fourth season after he earned a career-high 71.7 PFF overall grade in 2024, which ranked just 36th at the position.”
The Cleveland Browns pounded the Panthers 30-10 at the hands in Friday’s preseason opener. During the game, receiver Xavier Legette got into a fight with a Browns defender.
Panthers showed some progress in opener
However, Canales said the Panthers hinted at getting things right, according to panthers.com.
“It was a night of almost saying, can it be good enough,” Canales said after watching the film from the game. “Going into the team meeting here shortly, and I get to just talk to the guys about the critical variables. All these critical moments where it matters.
“I think I mentioned last night I was excited about the play style. A lot of physical play, an uptick that way, just in terms of what we're expecting from our group, defensively, special teams. And then, you know, offensively in the run game, having everybody involved and playing physical. I was really pleased with that. We're looking for great effort, and I would say we're trending towards the standard. I thought there were still too many moments, kind of sprinkled throughout the game, where we saw a lack of strain to finish.”
