ESPN’s annual ranking of the league’s best interior offensive linemen, built from a survey of NFL executives, coaches and scouts, included Carolina Panthers guard Robert Hunt among its honorable mentions this week — and left Damien Lewis off the list entirely, without even an also-receiving-votes nod.
The Hunt selection came with a caveat from the voters themselves. “He’s not in the elite group, but as a run-game mauler, there aren’t many better. He just wasn’t healthy last year,” one NFC scout told ESPN. Hunt, a Pro Bowler in 2024, played only two games in 2025 before injury ended his season.
Lewis’s omission is the harder one to square. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed one sack and 14 pressures across the full season, and his 78.5 pass-blocking grade ranked third among all guards; his 73.1 run-blocking grade ranked 14th. Mike Moraitis of Carolina Panthers On SI, who flagged the snub Sunday, argued Lewis had the stronger 2025 case of the two. Head coach Dave Canales pointed to the same thing during the season: “He’s got natural leverage. He’s a 6’3″ guy, he’s not a 6’5″ guy. But just improving his fundamentals, I think, is one of the biggest pieces why he’s playing so well right now.”
For a team whose season rests on Bryce Young‘s continued development, the evaluator consensus matters less than what actually happened up front. Lewis kept his side of the pocket clean through a full 17-game schedule while Hunt watched from the sideline, and Carolina still won the NFC South and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2017. A pairing of a healthy Hunt and a Lewis playing at last year’s level would give Young the best interior protection of his career — and reputation lists assembled in July have never blocked a pass rusher in December.
Panthers rookies report to camp July 21, with veterans following July 22. Hunt’s health across a full camp — something Carolina didn’t get from him a year ago — is the first thing to watch, because that pairing is where the 2026 version of this ranking gets decided.
