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Scouting Ikem Ekwonu

TheSpecialJuan

By TheSpecialJuan,
in Carolina Panthers

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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OT Ikem Ekwonu, No. 6 pick, Carolina Panthers

Ekwonu, the first offensive player selected in April’s draft, has had some very good moments … and some teachable ones, as well. That’s not shocking at all, given his age and position. The best news: His movement skills and power are absolutely showing up. His technique and general refinement are the areas where there’s plenty of work ahead.

In terms of a pure talent, though, it looks like it’s all there, as Carolina hoped.

Ekwonu beautifully reset and recovered against Washington’s Montez Sweat, early in his first appearance at left tackle (which was off the bench), showing good feet and a willingness to work through the whistle. His hands were erratic, however, which led to problems as the game wore on. There were reps when Ekwonu’s punch simply missed, too, and other reps where he landed a punch but didn’t follow it up with anything.

Great examples of where he’s at right now came from a pair of lead-pitch plays in the New England game last week. The first was perfect, with Ekwonu showing everything about how well he moves, before landing a strike into the chest of DB Jonathan Jones. But when Carolina went to run the same concept later in the game, Ekwonu was standing straight up on his lead pull, which allowed safety Kyle Dugger, who smartly read the play, to beat him to the punch and knock him off his feet. Ekwonu had some trouble with finish and footwork in that game.

He’s also improving. He gave up a sack on third-and-long against speedy Patriots edge rusher Josh Uche because his first step was nowhere near deep enough, given the opponent. That looked better later in the game, as did his ability to pass off stunts inside.

He simply needs to keep playing. But the things Carolina liked about Ekwonu at N.C. State have been there early.

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t96 Grand Master

t96

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Rookie LTs are pretty much never elite regardless of where they’re drafted. It takes time to get the hang of the position in the big leagues. If Icky can even be average this year, which I think he can, it’s a huge upgrade for us.

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panthers55 Grand Master

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I suspect that by midseason Ickey will be playing pretty well.  Most rookie linemen get abused no matter how strong until their technique improves.  If he doesn't give up too many sacks that it gets in his head, he will be fine. We need to give him some help with guys like Garrett to help him hold his own otherwise we could lose some games while we figure it out.

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ThPantherFan Grand Master

ThPantherFan

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30 minutes ago, t96 said:

Rookie LTs are pretty much never elite regardless of where they’re drafted. It takes time to get the hang of the position in the big leagues. If Icky can even be average this year, which I think he can, it’s a huge upgrade for us.

Actually, LT is a difficult position.  Gross had his problems his first year.

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Ricky Spanish Grand Master

Ricky Spanish

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4 hours ago, t96 said:

Rookie LTs are pretty much never elite regardless of where they’re drafted. It takes time to get the hang of the position in the big leagues. If Icky can even be average this year, which I think he can, it’s a huge upgrade for us.

Unless you have short arms apparently.

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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4 hours ago, t96 said:

Rookie LTs are pretty much never elite regardless of where they’re drafted. It takes time to get the hang of the position in the big leagues. If Icky can even be average this year, which I think he can, it’s a huge upgrade for us.

Well except for Joe Thomas and Willie Roaf but we are talking HOF Tackles. 

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