A sudden shift up front has handed Carolina Panthers rookie Monroe Freeling a bigger job than the one many expected him to chase.
With longtime starting right tackle Taylor Moton moved to the reserve/non-football illness list on Tuesday after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung, the Panthers are now asking the 21-year-old to handle the right side of the line. The setback was discovered in late June and is expected to keep Moton out into the regular season.
Head coach Dave Canales said after the opening training camp session that the team wanted Freeling to earn the role, but circumstances forced the issue.
"In my mind-I wanted Monroe to go out there, earn the job, win the job," Canales stated on Thursday. "And now, we're in a situation we need him to go now.
And we have guys behind him that can offer that depth part. He didn't blink and he started smiling."
Freeling, the Panthers’ 2026 first-round pick and 19th overall selection, said the news of the move came about a week earlier, once the team learned of Moton’s situation.
"It was probably like last week, they told me, after they found out the news with T-Mo, that I'd be working on the right side. I was just really psyched for the opportunity," he said.
"Anywhere they would've put me, I would've been happy to go. It's just how it is now.
I gotta step up and be ready."
The assignment changes the path Freeling was initially on. He had been expected to compete with fifth-year veteran Rasheed Walker for the starting job at left tackle, while Carolina’s blindside spot is normally held by Ikem Ekwonu, who is still recovering from the torn patellar tendon he suffered in January.
Even so, the move is not completely foreign to Freeling. He played 257 snaps at right tackle during his three seasons at the University of Georgia, and he also worked there during organized team activities in the spring.
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