CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers protected left tackle Ikem Ekwonu a lot during his 2022 rookie season.
The No. 6 overall pick played only three snaps with four or more wide receivers on the field. In the first half of the season, when the Panthers ran a spread offense, they gave him double-team help. By midseason, they turned to a power running game, which added an extra lineman or tight end to help.
Now his job is to protect the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, quarterback Bryce Young, in coach Frank Reich’s spread offense, which is centered on four- and five-receiver sets.
So far, that hasn’t gone well.
On 18 pass-blocking snaps in two preseason games, Ekwonu has given up a sack and three pressures. The sack and one of the pressures happened over a three-play span of Friday’s 21-19 loss to the New York Giants after Young had led the team on a drive to the 10-yard line.
The sack stood out because of what Ekwonu called a “mental error’’ that gave Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux a clear path to the franchise quarterback, whose size at 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds has left many with concerns about his ability to avoid injury.
KAYVON 🛑
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 18, 2023
📺: NBC4/NFL Network pic.twitter.com/53hUQJ4AVr
“Obviously, the last couple of weeks haven’t been good enough," Ekwonu said earlier this week.
Reich insists Ekwonu’s pass protection is not a concern, calling the 6-4, 320-pound tackle a “true anchor" of the line. But Ekwonu’s pass blocking was a concern coming out of North Carolina State, and it was enough of a concern in 2022 that last season's coaching staff felt the need to protect Ekwonu with help. That was amplified after Ekwonu’s 2022 debut, when he gave up two sacks and two hurries to Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in the opener, then gave up another sack the following week against the Giants.
The Panthers got him help with a tight end or extra lineman on 35% of his pass blocks with three or more wide receivers on the field in Weeks 1-9, according to ESPN Analytics/NFL Next Gen Stats. That dropped to 27% the second half of the season when Carolina went to more jumbo sets featuring an extra lineman.
That quieted the critics, as Ekwonu gave up only three sacks the rest of the season.
But according to a source familiar with the early-season game plan in 2022, there was “no way in hell" the Panthers had the personnel up front or at quarterback to be in a spread offense. One reason was Ekwonu’s pass blocking.
“That’s always something he’s got to work on," the source said. “That’s just who he is."
That doesn’t mean Ekwonu won’t blossom into everything Reich believes he will become in his spread offense, which will leave the left tackle exposed.
“Lot of confidence in Ickey," Reich said. “I have no concerns about him playing winning football and being one of the true anchors of our offensive line. After the year that he had last year, the training camp he’s had, not only is he going to be a really good player for us, he’s going to be a good leader.
“We have had a couple of miscues that he’s been involved in, but those things will get worked out."
The miscues stand out because they impacted Young, a player who owner David Tepper said on draft night will take the Panthers to “Super Bowls."
But Young, like Reich, said he has no concerns with Ekwonu’s play.
“It’s football," the quarterback said. “That’s part of the job. You’re gonna get hit. ... We’re all trying to grow. Stuff like that, it’s not one person. We’re all as a unit trying to get better."
The group was so bad in the preseason opener against the New York Jets that line coach James Campen called a meeting after Reich spoke to the team to let them know their play wasn’t acceptable.
Ekwonu’s mistakes in particular showed up. He missed a block on Young’s first pass attempt that allowed 293-pound tackle Solomon Thomas to deliver a hard hit on the quarterback just as he released the ball.
Campen said he saw nothing in that game that reminded him of issues that plagued the line the first half of last season. When asked specifically about Ekwonu from last season to this one, he quickly responded, “Oh, he’s progressing. He’s fine."
Asked if Ekwonu was more polished in one-on-one blocking, the veteran coach said, “He’s improved."
But the first two preseason games show there’s room for a lot more improvement.
“Ickey can handle it all," Reich said. “He’s a complete player. ... Listen, there is nothing proven yet. We all know he had a really good year last year. You just would think he’s going to continue to progress. And we believe he is and has progressed.
“But we just want to see that show up on tape when we get to Sundays."
So far what has shown up are mistakes. Two plays after giving up the sack to Thibodeaux, Ekwonu was late on a block that allowed the edge rusher to hit Young again as he released the ball.
“It’s something I’ve got to get better at, and I’m glad I’ve got the staff here, the players here, on both sides of the ball to help me get to that goal," Ekwonu said.
Ekwonu understands his role and the expectations, particularly now that he is protecting the top pick of the draft. But he doesn’t feel more pressure now than he did last season.
“I wouldn’t say [there’s] extra stress," he said. “That’s one of the main parts of the job as an offensive line whether he’s a rookie coming in or a 15-year guy.
“At the end of the day I’ve got a job to do, and I didn’t get it done on that play."