The Carolina Panthers’ competition at right guard is about to get a bit more interesting.
As reported by Darin Gantt of Panthers.com on Saturday morning, guard Chandler Zavala has been activated from the active/physically unable to perform list and will practice today. This’ll be the first piece of on-field training camp action for the rookie, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Zavala was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft out of North Carolina State University. He—along with perceived favorite Cade Mays and veteran free-agent signing Justin McCray—were named as candidates by general manager Scott Fitterer to fill in for starter Austin Corbett during the early portion of the regular season.
“It’s a wide-open competition,” Fitterer said at the start of camp. “The good thing is we have numbers in there. We have versatility in there. Brady’s [Christensen] back, he’s fully healthy. Austin, he’s pushing to get back. He’s ahead of schedule. We’ll see what that means. We won’t know until like cut day, like where he’s at.”
Corbett, who tore his ACL in the 2022 finale against the New Orleans Saints, is expected to miss some time to begin the campaign.
