How far can a hog molly leap? Well, according to NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats analyst Keegan Abdoo, perhaps pretty high.
Abdoo recently named 32 players who are primed to break through for their teams in the 2023 season. For the Carolina Panthers, he sees second-year left tackle Ikem Ekwonu making that leap:
The first offensive tackle off the board in the 2022 NFL Draft looks to build off an impressive rookie season where he played every snap. According to Pro Football Focus, Ekwonu allowed a pressure on just 5.2 percent of his pass-blocking snaps, the third-lowest in a season by a rookie left tackle in the last decade. Despite Carolina bringing in a new coaching regime, Ekwonu will have continuity in his position room, as new head coach Frank Reich retained the offensive line coach from the last regime, James Campen.
Ekwonu expressed a similar sentiment at the start of this summer’s training camp. He told reporters that he’s excited to get into his second campaign with Campen and his comrades.
“Obviously, having that continuation with the offensive line is great,” he said on July 27. “We already have some background chemistry, so that was good. We got a lot of things we can build off of last year, and we all got to watch it together and grow together as a unit.”
The start of this sophomore year, however, didn’t get off to much of an exciting start. Ekwonu allowed two pressures of rookie quarterback Bryce Young in last Saturday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets, which is now almost infamous for the unit’s lackluster outing.
So, the growing will have to continue.
