Panthers lose starting defensive tackle for year
Season-ending injuries have been hitting teams left and right already with NFL training camps just a week old, and the Carolina Panthers are the latest team to feel the hit.
Panthers defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu lasted fewer than 30 minutes in Carolina’s first training camp practice Monday before tearing his right Achilles tendon. He will miss the season.
This is a huge blow for Carolina, as it has zero depth at defensive tackle. Because the Panthers had to give defensive end Julius Peppers a huge $16.7 million contract to keep him for this year, the team didn’t invest much money elsewhere along the defensive line. For example, the Panthers did not sign a single unrestricted free agent from another team for that position. Backup defensive tackle Darwin Walker also wasn’t re-signed.
The 6-foot-5, 345-pound Kemoeatu was the key cog in Carolina’s run defense, often drawing double teams and opening up lanes for speedy middle linebacker Jon Beason to make plays. The 30-year-old Kemoeatu started all 14 of the games he played in last season. In 46 games with the Panthers, including 40 starts, he’s logged 138 tackles. But numbers aren’t really what show his value, more that he can take up two blockers at a time.
“You never like to lose anybody to an injury for any amount of time. But we also know it’s the reality of it that you’re in training camp and injuries happen,” GM Marty Hurney said, adding that the new defense installed this offseason by coordinator Ron Meeks should not fundamentally change because of Kemoeatu’s injury.
Backups such as Nick Hayden, Corvey Irvin, Lonnie Harvey and Marlon Favorite will vie for playing time in Kemoeatu’s spot, although perhaps now Walker will be brought back as he is still unsigned. Hayden, a second-year player who started last year’s regular-season finale at New Orleans, saw action with the front line at the evening practice on Monday.
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