Bears HC Ben Johnson praises Panthers as blueprint for OL construction
Bears HC Ben Johnson praises Panthers as blueprint for OL construction
Ben Johnson may not have liked what he saw from the Carolina Panthers when they were in hot pursuit of him in 2023 and 2024. He does, however, like what he's seeing there now.
The new Chicago Bears head coach spoke with reporters from the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. He was asked about having to reconstruct his offensive line, undoubtedly the greatest area of need for the team.
His answer? Well, we can look over to Carolina for that.
"Yeah, I think it's been done before," the Charleston, S.C. native replied. "I think there's a number of teams that did that last year. The Panthers come to mind. They went out in free agency and got a couple top guards and really changed the dynamic of their offense, and you saw them click in there in the second half of the season once they started to really gel. There's no question that you can change the dynamic of a room just like that."
The Panthers changed the dynamic of their room by devoting over $150 million to two interior linemen right out of the gate last spring—as they signed right guard Robert Hunt to a five-year, $100 million deal and left guard Damien Lewis to a four-year, $53 million deal.
Hunt and Lewis helped form the most formidable offensive front the organization has fielded in quite some time, as Carolina finished with Pro Football Focus' 12th-best pass-blocking efficiency rating (85.4). The group also opened up a career campaign for running back Chuba Hubbard, who became just the second player in franchise history to record at least 1,100 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns and 40 receptions in a season.
So it's certainly safe to say that the hog mollies have put the league on notice.
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