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Nametags needed Free-agent frenzy has Carolina's OL looking different
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Paul Boudreau winces at even the sound of the words. It's not a blemish on his record, but Carolina's new offensive line coach can't help but shudder at the mention of the most unsightly statistic in the Panthers' unsightly 2000 season. So what would happen if his newly rebuilt Carolina line suffered through another disastrous 69-sack season? "I'd be going back into the hospital and asking for morphine," said Boudreau on Friday morning, just after putting his players through a 105-minute workout. "I can't speak for what happened last year, but I'm glad I wasn't here. I think it's something that our guys are going to try and make sure doesn't happen again." Free-agent offensive line signings don't tend to sell season tickets, but in Carolina this year they represent a similar kind of required up-front investment. Recognizing that the offensive line is one of the few positions in football where weaknesses can't be disguised and game-planned around for long, the Panthers went out and bought themselves three veterans who represent 21 years and 267 starts of NFL experience, for four different franchises.
As much as anyone, new quarterback Jeff Lewis included, center Jeff Mitchell, right guard Kevin Donnalley and left tackle Todd Steussie might help determine the look and feel of the Panthers' 2001 season. Throw in Boudreau, who essentially switched jobs this offseason with former Carolina and current Miami offensive coach Tony Wise, and the Panthers have addressed their most glaring deficiency in the biggest way imaginable. Carolina's 69 sacks allowed in 2000 rank as the fourth-worst showing in league history, since the NFL started keeping track of sacks. Throw in a 29th-ranked rushing game that averaged just 74.1 yards per game, and the numbers say the Panthers essentially couldn't run or pass block a year ago. "It was very difficult," concedes Carolina head coach George Seifert. "It's certainly something we want to do better than last year. We've done a lot to [the offensive line]. But we have to prove something first. We haven't played yet." In order, the Panthers added Mitchell, who started for the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens, Donnalley, the former Dolphin who came north in large part thanks to Boudreau, and Steussie, the two-time former Pro Bowl standout who was a surprising salary-cap casualty in Minnesota. "Thank God for Randy Moss," quips Boudreau, making light of the well-chronicled war of words that Steussie and Moss engaged in early this offseason, which perhaps influenced the decision to release Steussie. "They got in a little pissing match there at the end. But it's good for us." Notice any commonality between the three veterans? All played for playoff teams last year, an infusion of recent success that the Panthers' organization is praying rubs off all around the roster. "We all have a mindset of winning," said Steussie, who turned down offers from Denver and Cincinnati to sign with Carolina in late March. "We're all used to winning. I've been in the league seven years and made the playoffs all but one year. Mitchell won a Super Bowl last year, and Donnalley's been on playoff teams. We've been there. We all have high standards for ourselves." With holdover Chris Terry set at right tackle, only one starting job on the Panthers' line is competitive. Second-year man Leander Jordan has been running with the first team at left guard early in camp, but will be pushed by veterans Jamar Nesbit and Jeno James. Gone are Frank Garcia (St. Louis) and Matt Campbell (Washington), both of whom were original Panthers, as well as tackle Clarence Jones, who remains out of football. Blame for last year's debacle up front can be, ahem, passed around. Quarterback Steve Beuerlein's famed immobility (62 sacks) had more than a little to do with it, as did the Panthers' near surrender at times when it came to running the ball. Falling behind by big margins early in games only exacerbated the trend, as Carolina became predictable and opponents pinned their ears back on the pass rush. "To put it on the linemen who aren't here now would be a horrible injustice," Seifert said. "I think the system had something to do with what took place. We became so reliant on throwing the ball, and Steve really didn't have any mobility. Then we couldn't ever seem to get our running game going." Re-establishing the Panthers' ground game behind running backs Tshimanga Biakabutuka and Richard Huntley is priority number one in Carolina. Without that, opponents are expected to blitz the daylights out of whichever of the Panthers two young quarterbacks -- Lewis or rookie Chris Weinke -- ends up playing. If that happens, Boudreau could be in line for a little painkiller, and Carolina in line for a repeat of last season's sorry spectacle. "We know there are people counting us out and they don't have a lot of good things to say about us right now," Donnalley said. "People are picking us for last in the division. But that's kind of where we like it. This way, we get to come out and surprise people. We know it can be done." Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.
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