The Carolina Panthers have the meats and they’re not afraid to use them.
With right guard Austin Corbett expected to miss the start of the 2023 campaign, a temporary starting job on the team’s interior offensive line has opened up. And according to Joe Person of The Athletic, it may very well be cult favorite Cade Mays who’s been earmarked as the favorite for the gig.
Person, in his pre-training camp roster breakdown, writes:
The former Tennessee lineman was a fun story his rookie season when he would line up in the backfield as a beefy fullback in the “Arby’s” package. But there’s more pressure this year on Mays, who appears to be the choice at right guard until Corbett returns.
The 2022 sixth-round selection played in 51 offensive snaps during his rookie campaign. 34 of those reps came at right guard in his Week 18 relief appearance for Corbett, who tore his ACL earlier in the season finale.
Mays recently stated that most of his work this offseason has come out of the right guard and center spots.
“I feel more confident,” Mays said, via Augusta Stone of Panthers.com. “I feel like I know the playbook better. I’ve been playing the majority (of reps) at right guard and center. I feel comfortable at those spots, and I just feel prepared. Like I come out here, and I feel like I’m ready.”
Other challengers for Mays’ apparent pole position could include veterans Justin McCray and Michael Jordan and 2023 fourth-round pick Chandler Zavala.
