Ikem Ekwonu’s absence has become impossible to ignore for the Panthers, and the longer he stays on the sideline, the more obvious his value looks.
Carolina has gone seven games without its starting left tackle, who is still recovering from the torn patellar tendon he suffered against the Los Angeles Rams in January. The team brought in Rasheed Walker after four seasons in Green Bay and installed him at left tackle while Ekwonu worked back, but the results haven’t been pretty.
The roughest stretch came against Tampa Bay, when Walker allowed three sacks and seven pressures, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Bryce Young never had much room to settle in, and Carolina dropped that game 43-13.
Four days later, things didn’t get any cleaner against Green Bay. Young was pressured on 48.9% of his dropbacks and was sacked six times, with Walker on the field for all 73 offensive snaps against his former team.
The season-long numbers tell the same story. Through seven games, Walker has given up 30 pressures and four sacks, according to Core Football Labs, and he has also been flagged six times. Carolina’s issues up front aren’t all on him, but he hasn’t stabilized the spot either.
The Panthers have had to juggle more than one problem on the line. Taylor Moton is out for the season, Damien Lewis missed Thursday, and Corey Bullock injured his quad during the game. That has left Carolina with a much different front than the one it expected to roll out.
Dave Canales said this week that Ekwonu is “trending in the right direction.” He’s doing more individual work now, but Canales is not ready to have him go at full speed yet.
That caution makes sense. A torn patellar tendon is not the kind of injury to rush, especially not because the line has been under siege for a couple of weeks.
Carolina has already gone this long without him, and it has some extra time before Denver comes to Charlotte on Nov. 8.
Maybe Ekwonu is back by then and maybe he isn’t. Either way, the Panthers would love to have No. 79 back when he’s ready.
Ekwonu has drawn plenty of criticism since Carolina made him the sixth overall pick in 2022. His pass protection hasn’t always matched the job description, and there have been real questions about whether he was the long-term answer at left tackle. Lately, though, those doubts have faded.
Young has been under pressure on half of his dropbacks over the last two games. Before that stretch, the number was 39.4%, and his yards per attempt under pressure has dropped from 6.2 to 3.2. That kind of heat has made Ekwonu’s absence stand out even more.
Bringing Ekwonu back won’t solve every issue on the offensive line. Moton is done for the year, and the group could still look different when Denver arrives. But right now, Carolina would clearly be better off with Ekwonu protecting Young’s blind side.
Seven games without him have made that pretty clear.
In Other News...
Christian Watson's Scary Night Changed Panthers-Packers In A Way Fans Felt
The night took a sharp turn for Green Bay when Christian Watson came down with a 53-yard catch and then left with a broken rib that sent him to the hospital. Even so, the Packers receiver came back into the game and finished with eight catches for 113 yards, a gritty showing that helped shape the way the matchup with Carolina unfolded.
Watsons return became one of the defining images of the night, especially for a Panthers defense that had to keep dealing with him after the injury scare. Packers safety Xavier McKinney and coach Matt LaFleur both praised the way Watson kept going, and his determination ended up being part of the story behind Green Bays victory. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Rookie Has Become One Of Carolinas Few Defensive Bright Spots
The Panthers left Lambeau Field with another frustrating loss, falling 27-19 to the Packers and slipping below .500, but rookie safety Zakee Wheatley gave them one of the few defensive moments worth remembering. Wheatley picked off his first NFL pass and continued what has quietly become a promising start in the secondary, offering a small but meaningful bright spot for a unit that has struggled to find consistency.
Carolinas defense is now moving into a new phase after the club fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero following the game, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already unsettled season. For a team trying to stabilize itself, Wheatleys emergence matters because it hints at something the Panthers have not had enough of on that side of the ball: young players who look ready to grow into bigger roles. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Canales Just Became Carolinas Biggest Question
The Panthers have already made one major midseason move on the defensive side, firing coordinator Ejiro Evero and assistant Jonathan Cooley while promoting Todd Wash to oversee that group. It is the kind of shakeup that usually signals a team trying to stop a slide before it gets worse, and with Carolina sitting at 3-4 after two straight losses, the pressure around the building is starting to spread well beyond one side of the ball.
Dave Canales is now at the center of that conversation. The offense has not consistently matched the urgency of the moment, and with the defense being reworked in-season, the Panthers are left hoping the entire operation settles down quickly. For a team trying to stay afloat in a crowded NFC race, the bigger question may be whether the coaching changes can stabilize things, or whether they only underline how much more work still needs to be done. [Read more 🡒]