Pancakes weren’t the only item some of the Carolina Panthers’ hog mollies were cooking up on Friday.
Thoughts of a savory offense were brewing during part of this year’s Keep Pounding Day, where four of the team’s linemen were serving breakfast to residents of MerryWood on Park assisted living center. On the scene was Joe Person of The Athletic, who spoke to a hopeful Ikem Ekwonu about No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.
“Everything we can do to ease that transition, we’re gonna do it,” Ekwonu said. “Offensive linemen (are) 100 percent behind the choice at quarterback. So we’re excited and ready to work.”
Fellow starter Brady Christensen had a similar sentiment to the choice, stating that the 5-foot-10, 204-pound passer will be just fine if they give him the time.
“I think it’s a great plan,” he said. “As a rookie quarterback, it’s a tough gig. If we can just give him time so he can do his thing, it’s gonna be incredible. … I feel like some of those rookie quarterbacks, they’re not in the perfect situation. But I feel like (Young) is coming in and really (has) a lot of talent around him to help him out, so he’s not trying to do it all himself.”
The Panthers’ braintrust has worked towards that exact setup this offseason, having put the pieces in place for Young well ahead of his arrival. Not only did Carolina beef up their receiving room with the likes of Adam Thielen, DJ Chark and Hayden Hurst, but they also signed 12-year veteran Andy Dalton to ease the jump.
So now that the linemen are behind Young, they’ll just have to get used to being in front of him for the next handful of years.
