For Monroe Freeling and the offensive line, the first transition begins on Day 1

Jul 22, 2026 at 02:48 PM

Darin Gantt

Damien Lewis, Luke Fortner and Robert Hunt are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE — Panthers general manager Dan Morgan sounded about as relaxed as one could imagine, considering he's going into training camp without his starting tackles.

But not having Ikem Ekwonu (torn patellar tendon) or Taylor Moton (blood clots) until after the regular season starts is covered by the signing of Rasheed Walker and drafting Monroe Freeling in the first round this year.

Morgan said Wednesday, as players reported to training camp, that Walker would start at left tackle and Freeling on the right, after the rookie spent most of his college career at Georgia on the left.

If that worried Morgan, it was hard to tell by his tone.

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"I think we'll be covered there," the GM said. "We feel good about it, and I know T-Mo will definitely support Monroe there at right tackle and teach him all he knows. So, yeah, we feel good about it.

"I think that's why depth matters so much in this league. And drafting Monroe and taking the best player available, it happened to be a tackle, it worked out really well for us. So we feel really good about him. We're confident in him, and I know he's going to attack it and he's going to be out there competing."

Of course, constantly shuffling groups on the offensive line was part of the story of 2025 for the Panthers (and helped inform their decision-making this offseason). They used 10 different combinations of starters in the first 13 games, and used 12 different groups of starters over the course of the season.

So having this kind of change early is obviously a complication, but one they have some experience with.

"Obviously we got new guys here, and that's kind of different than what we had last year," right guard Robert Hunt said. "But as you've seen last year, there's a lot of guys playing everywhere, and I think for the most part the group in general, the core still kept the main thing the main thing.

"I think it's going to be the same deal today and throughout camp and through the first couple of games is we've got to keep the, the main thing, the main thing. That's protecting the quarterback, that's running the football, and that's helping us win games. So, that's kind of going to be what the message is at the end of the day: the guys that got the opportunity to play, it's the opportunity to play. So we'll do with that as we need."

Monroe Freeling is seen during Carolina Panthers Rookie arrival ahead of training camp on Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

Hunt gained a bit of familiarity with Freeling during the offseason, and said as they texted back and forth following the news of Moton's absence, he could tell Freeling was in the right headspace.

"I'm excited for Monroe; to have a chance to come out Day 1 and compete for a job is special," Hunt said. "I think he has all the physical tools to do that. He's young, so I expect him to fire off the ball with some attitude. So, I'm excited to work with him. I'm excited to see what we can do."

Taylor Moton is seen duringis seen during Carolina Panthers arrival for training camp on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

He also knows that Moton will be in his ear throughout camp.

Hunt laughed and said that as the offensive linemen worked out recently, Moton was on the stationary bike on the sidelines barking advice.

"The other day we were out here, and we were practicing, we don't have to be here, there's no schedule, nothing," Hunt said. "And we're out there, we're going, and we do like a little (individual) drill and the rookies are doing their deal, and he's yelling at them.

"He's on a bike. 'Get down, get lower. You need to be lower than that.' And I'm like, OK, so they can be ready for him to be low-key coaching from the sideline. He'll be very into it. T-Mo will be here every day coaching like he's a coach, so we'll see that part of him."

Morgan said the expectation was that both Ekwonu and Moton would be able to return at some point in the regular season, but now, this new group has a full camp (including the extra week that comes with being in the Hall of Fame Game) to get to know each other.

They're already welcoming a new center (Luke Fortner) to the mix, so the challenge for the next month will be working together.

But having the two tackles being new to those positions will obviously be in the spotlight as he learns the NFL and a new position at the same time.

Monroe Freeling is seen during Carolina Panthers OTA Day Number 4 on Monday, Jun. 1, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

"I know what Monroe is made of," Morgan said. "He's a competitor. He's super smart. He's going to go out there, he's going to attack this thing, and we have full confidence in him. . . .

"There's some little things that he's going to have to get used to, but he's a young, moldable rookie, you know, a guy that's going to come in here; he's going to be coached really well by Joe Gilbert. Joe will do a great job with him. We have full confidence in him. We have full confidence in Monroe, and they're going to attack it together, and I know Monroe is going to put the work in, and I feel good about it."

The fact that Morgan and others have seen what this kind of situation looks like before, and have seen it work, helps. For his former teammate, Hall of Honor quarterback Jake Delhomme (in town for the start of camp), it was reminiscent of his first year here, when first-rounder Jordan Gross flipped from the left to the right for his rookie year, allowing veteran Todd Steussie to stay put on the left for a year.

Gross went on to a long and successful career, and the early transition didn't slow him a bit.

"Everybody knew Jordan was going to transition to the left eventually," Delhomme said. "I mean, Jordan could have played split end, and he would have done it. But he's that guy. So he went to right tackle, and he didn't miss a beat, and Jordan will tell you the first thing he, the only thing he ever worried about was having to block Julius Peppers and how am I going to do this? It was so easy for him. No one knew. No one knew if there was an issue because he just did it seamlessly."

"Thank goodness we signed Walker, so that works out perfectly because Ickey is not feeling the pressure or rush of 'I've got to get back.' Thank goodness they drafted Monroe where they did.

"Things have a way of playing themselves out."

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Tommy Tremble is seen during Carolina Panthers arrival for training camp on Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.