Most of the Carolina Panthers starters didn’t see the field at all in their second preseason game on Friday night. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t come away with some interesting bits from their 20-10 loss to the New England Patriots.
Here are the top takeaways from the exhibition defeat.
A mixed bag for Ikem Ekwonu
The 2022 sixth overall pick got his first start since being named the team’s new left tackle. And it was okay.
Ekwonu made his presence felt early . . . literally . . . on Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones. Off the tail end of a D’Onta Foreman rush on the third play from scrimmage, the 6-foot-4, 320-pounder pancaked the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Jones into the Gillette Stadium turf.
A tough drive for Ekwonu, however, would follow—as he was credited with two sacks of starting quarterback PJ Walker. Defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. and linebacker Josh Uche notched the takedowns.
Regardless, Friday gave the young hog molly some invaluable reps and learning experiences against the bulk of New England’s first-team defense.
Amaré Barno and Brandon Smith continue their quick rise
Ekwonu wasn’t the only rookie worth keeping an eye on. We can also look to the defense, where Barno and Smith had a few nice flashes.
After recording a fumble recovery and three pressures last week—one of which forced an interception—Barno picked up another pressure that almost forced another interception. And Smith, who earned a 81.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in that first outing, recorded five tackles and a blazing sack.
At the very least, while hoping Barno’s early exit is nothing to worry about, the Panthers defense has some electric depth in this duo. At the very best, while keeping expectations in check, they have a promising pair of wrecking balls.
The running game hasn't gotten running
We have not and will not be seeing Christian McCaffrey in exhibition play. And unfortunately for the Panthers offense, we haven’t seen much of a rushing attack thus far without him.
Carolina mustered up all of 57 yards on 23 carries against the Patriots. When you couple that with their 93 yards on 30 tries against the Commanders, we have ourselves a discouraging average of 2.8 yards per attempt.
This isn’t anything to immediately panic about, but it is worth keeping tabs on for a team looking to establish the run under head coach Matt Rhule.
Matt Corral hasn't gotten going either
Despite setting the Panthers up for victory last week, Corral didn’t have the warmest of welcomes to the league. He completed just one of his nine throws for 11 yards and nearly got his head ripped off.
This outing in New England wasn’t much better. The rookie completed nine of 15 chucks (that’s better!) for just 58 yards. To make matters a bit more bleak, he left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent foot injury.
Corral’s shortcomings to this point aren’t all on him, as he’s gotten very limited reps in practice with Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold battling it out. He’s also not exactly benefitting from the team’s lack of depth on its offensive line.
