Panthers guards Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis ranked among NFL's best by PFF

You're not supposed to spend big on guards in the modern NFL - something a few GMs around the league have taken to heart just a little bit too much. Dan Morgan of the Carolina Panthers is definitely not one of them, though. Last year in free agency he went against conventional wisdom in this department, knowing that Bryce Young needed better interior pass protection to grow out of his frustrating start as a pro.

So, the Panthers went out and spent a boatload of money to sign Robert Hunt (five years, $100 million) and Damien Lewis (four years, $53 million). It would have been very on-brand for those two deals to immediately blow up in their faces but instead it paid huge dividends immediately.

Lewis was never a solid starter during his four years with the Seattle Seahawks, but in Carolina he had a huge break-through, both in pass blocking and run blocking. Heading into the 2025 season, Pro Football Focus has Lewis ranked 15th at his position.

"Lewis, along with Robert Hunt, joined Carolina this past season as part of the Panthers’ offensive line rebuild, and he flourished. He posted 70.0-plus PFF grades in run and pass blocking on his way to a career-high 75.5 PFF overall grade, which ranked 12th among guards."

Meanwhile, Hunt made his first career Pro Bowl and came in at 16th.

"Although Hunt’s pass-blocking metrics dipped substantially following his move to Carolina, he maintains one of the most consistent run-blocking profiles on the interior in the NFL. Over his five seasons as a pro, Hunt has generated a PFF run-blocking grade above 70.0 four times, including in each of his past three seasons."

We don't understand PFF's beef with Hunt's pass protection - something he's called out himself. In any case, Hunt had a great year and has set a badass new tone for this unit - which should be considered top-10 going into the new season.

Offensive lines tend to get better the longer they're together, and Carolina will be returning all five starters and all of their backups - so we could see another rise in the near future for these two.