Carolina Panthers HC Dave Canales has an uncomfortable decision to consider after veteran’s impressive return
The Carolina Panthers welcomed veteran right tackle Taylor Moton back to the lineup on Sunday and his performance in his first game back opened up an uncomfortable conversation for head coach Dave Canales to weigh.
The Carolina Panthers won ugly against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and a big story coming out of the game was the return of two veteran stalwarts in the trenches who played very well in their first game back in right tackle Taylor Moton and defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton.
“Turk had some splash plays in there, a little bit of a rep count for him as he works his way back into football but I can think of one play in particular – there was a run play in the second-half where he shed the block and looked just like Turk. Loved the way he was able to contribute. And then T-Mo, just settled right in. It’s unbelievable to be able to come in there, play a full game and a lot of reps, to play the quality that he did,” head coach Dave Canales said on Monday.
Wharton played a total of 31 defensive snaps in the defensive line rotation, recording a tackle in his first game back. Moton’s performance was even more impressive after starting the game and playing all 79 offensive snaps. Both players returned to practice for the first time in months this past week and it’s remarkable the impact they made.
The conversation with Moton specifically goes even deeper and brought up an uncomfortable decision Canales will eventually have to make with the offensive line.
Will the Panthers keep Taylor Moton at RT? If so what happens next with Monroe Freeling?
Going into this year, Moton was expected to be the team’s starting right tackle. It’s a position he’d held now in Carolina for nine seasons. When healthy, he’s one of the best offensive linemen in this league and that’s what he was able to show on Sunday after making his way back from a scary medical situation he spent months dealing with.
“He and (right guard Rob Hunt), they didn’t skip a beat,” Canales said. “Like they’ve been working together this whole time. It was so impressive and I’m not surprised by it. Really proud of the way T-Mo was able to come back and help this team.”
Moton’s return couldn’t have come at a better time. While Moton was sidelined, rookie first-round pick Monroe Freeling served as the team’s starting right tackle over the first four games. However, Freeling suffered a knee injury in Week 4 and wasn’t able to play on Sunday, opening the door for Moton to step back into his starting spot.
Once Freeling is cleared, that’s where the conversation gets interesting. The Panthers would like to continue developing Freeling and have him out on the field. But, Moton isn’t a player you’re taking off the field and left tackle Rasheed Walker is coming off his best game of the season after allowing one pressure on 46 pass-blocking snaps.
“There’s a bunch of scenarios we’re still working through,” Canales explained. “T-Mo looked like T-Mo, Rasheed Walker played his best game, we’ll see where Monroe is at physically. And we’ll go from there. This is a first-round pick for us, this is a high value player for us. We’re going to do what’s best for the Panthers and put the best group and healthiest group out there. That’s a good challenge for Monroe to see how he responds to the training, the treatment, and to see if he shows us how ready he is to play and then how do we play him.”
Step one is getting Freeling healthy. After that, it does become a difficult decision because Freeling was playing at a high level for a rookie that came into the league with limited experience. This was supposed to be a red-shirt year essentially for Freeling with him getting limited reps as a swing tackle. Plans obviously changed given Moton’s situation earlier in the year and Freeling stepped up in a major way.
“That’s something that we are thinking about,” Canales added. “When you have guys playing high quality football, of course Monroe was a part of that group when he was playing at the right tackle. We know we have options. My dad always said ‘A man with options is blessed,’ but again we have to do what’s right for the team. We take this seriously. Monroe wants to be out there. He’s itching and he’s working really hard.”
Again, step one is Freeling getting healthy coming off this knee injury. Once he’s able to do that, the Panthers can weigh all three options and personally the player under the most pressure right now is Walker, who’s allowed a team-high 21 pressures this season.
