Panthers select Georgia OT Monroe Freeling with the 19th pick in the NFL draft

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers selected offensive tackle Monroe Freeling from Georgia with the 19th overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night, adding stability for a position in flux.

Now the question is where to play him?

The 6-foot-7, 315-pound Freeling started 18 games over three seasons for the Bulldogs, including all 13 at left tackle in 2025. But Freeling, who is considered a powerful run-blocker and adept at pass protection with 34-inch arms, also played at right tackle earlier in his career at Georgia and said he would feel comfortable playing either spot.

Carolina’s starting left tackle Ickey Ekwonu — a 2022 first-round draft pick — is expected to miss most of this season after suffering a torn patellar tendon in the team’s 31-28 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Panthers signed free agent Rasheed Walker to a one-year deal as a short-term replacement.

On the other side, Taylor Moton has been a mainstay at right tackle, starting 145 games. But he is 31 years old, and it's unclear just how much longer he will play.

“We’re going to figure all that out,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said when asked where he plans to play Freeling this season. “Right now, we just got to get him in here, talk to him, get him on the field. Most of our (offensive tackles) end up playing both sides throughout camp. That’s just kind of the way we do it. It give us flexibility. ... But it's too early to tell.”

Freeling isn't viewing this as a redshirt year with the Panthers.

He's here to start right away.

“I can't go in without the mentality that I'm starting,” said Freeling, who grew up near Charleston, South Carolina. “I want to go in there and start. But I'm also going to go in there and try to get my teammates better, too. And I think they can get me better as a rookie. I'm excited to learn, but I'm also excited to compete.”

The 21-year-old Freeling joked that he's been “tossed onto the offensive line” ever since he was young because he was bigger than most of the kids his age. And while he was known as a good basketball player as a teenager, he chose to stick it out as an offensive lineman, a position he grew to love.

Freeling said he plans to bring high energy to the Panthers, just as he did at Georgia.

“Not every little kid wants to play offensive line,” Freeling said. “But if you don’t grow a love for it, you’re not going to make it. I have a love for dominating the man in front of me and making it fun and playing with other offensive linemen.”

The Panthers are coming off a season where they finished 8-9 in the regular season but still managed to win the NFC South, snapping a seven-year playoff drought.

General manager Dan Morgan — a former inside linebacker — selected an offensive player in the first round for the third straight year. He took wide receivers in his first two drafts, with Xavier Legette in 2024 and reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan in the 2025.

Morgan said he felt entering this offseason the team needed to get bigger, stronger and deeper up front.

The Panthers went heavy on defense in free agency, signing edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to a four-year, $120 million contract and Pro Bowl linebacker Devin Lloyd to a three-year, $45 million contract.

That allowed them to pivot to the offensive line in the draft.

“More than anything, we want to keep both our fronts strong,” Morgan said. “To add a big, long, talented tackle here in the first round, it just keeps our offensive line strong. To add somebody with the talent that Monroe has, it was just too good to pass up.”

Morgan added the Panthers might not be done upgrading the lines with two days left in the draft.

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