CHARLOTTE—The first thing that caught your eye was the mummy, hanging upside down from the ceiling in the middle of the room, ominously, gently swinging side-to-side when the air would kick on. The skeleton standing sentinel in the corner surveyed the goings-on of all those who dared enter, and webs snaked up the wall with spiders clinging to every surface of the Carolina Panthers offensive line room.

Each piece was intentional, underlaid by gregarious joy at the chance to be together in the same room as laughter bounced off the walls.

It's the 2024 iteration of the Panthers offensive line, positively tickled at themselves and their Halloween decorations.

No one remembers who first gave the directive to decorate, just that Jarrett Kingston and Andrew Raym, the two rookies in the room, were told that on October 1, they wanted to walk into a haunted house. Kingston's wife had a Pinterest-inspired touch, and with her help, the two rookies transformed the space late on the eve of October.

The only complaint?

"But no candy. No, nothing," Robert Hunt lamented back in early October.

"I'm glad you brought that up," interjected Taylor Moton. "That's something that we need to correct, and hopefully, next time we get in the room, they take care of that."

Eventually, the group got their candy, and the Halloween decorations were just the beginning. On November 1, Thanksgiving decorations appeared. On December 1, a tree and lights made the entire room magical, casting a holiday glow on the skeleton that someone decided should stay in the corner no matter the calendar month…albeit boasting a Santa hat in December.

By season's end, there was a sense of merriment throughout the building, filtering into the other meeting rooms and weaving into the locker room. But it was present in the offensive line room well before the second half of the season when the wins and holiday decorations began to appear. Even when the Panthers started 1-7, there was palpable joy and change in a unit that had experienced nothing but turmoil just a season ago.

What was the impetus for this change?

Arguably, a few things, but it's hard to ignore the addition of Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis and how they helped the Panthers chart a new course upfront.

Last March, Damien Lewis settled himself into a chair not meant for an offensive line, looked out left over the field at Bank of America Stadium, and made a promise as to what this line would deliver.

"That three in the middle got to be firm so that quarterback can have time and see down the field," he explained at the time, "I think that three need to be stout in front. Mean, tough, and nasty."

Lewis had been a newly inked free agent with the Panthers for all of an hour at that point. He'd yet to meet his teammates, other than Hunt, who was in the building to sign his free-agent deal the same day. But Lewis knew what he brought, what Hunt brought, and what the Panthers already had in Austin Corbett. That was enough to give him confidence.

"I got to come in and make a point," Lewis continued. "I got to get that fire me and bring it to the team, be the best teammate that I can be for this organization, and help us win championships."

The addition of Hunt and Lewis was a statement by general manager Dan Morgan: regardless of what happened with the quarterback situation, the defense, or any other question that arose in the season, the Panthers were beefing up the offensive line.

Granted, it was a necessary change. The 2023 season infamously saw then rookie passer Bryce Young sacked 62 times, which tied a franchise-worst mark, and along with Andy Dalton, the team gave up 65 sacks total. According to Next Gen Stats, 52 came directly from the offensive line's lack of protection, accounting for a 1.5 percent sack rate.

The quarterback pressure rate was 10 percent on all dropbacks and 12.1 percent on one-on-one assignments. During that time, seven different men lined up at the left guard position and eight at right guard. By season's end, Pro Football Focus ranked the unit as the fourth worst (29th overall) in the league.

There had to be a change, and it had to start up front.

"I think it's pretty evident that our offensive line struggled at times last year," Morgan commented in late February 2024 at the NFL Combine. "We got to get better in that area and we're going to do everything in our power to make that happen."

Enter Hunt and Lewis.

Sometimes, the best place to start a story is at the end.

After the 2024 season, the Panthers offensive line had allowed a quarterback pressure rate of 7.1 percent, with an 8.4 pressure rate off one-on-ones. Young took 29 sacks total, while Dalton took seven, for a total of 36; however, Next Gen Stats credits only 23 of those to the core offensive line, for a 0.7 percent sack rate.

For those doing the math at home, that is a marked difference in all major categories from the 2023 season, specifically the 33 fewer sacks for Young.

"It's a physical game. I'm forever indebted for them putting their bodies on the line, working day in and day out to protect me," Young said in an upcoming episode of Panthers Blueprint, which debuts on the Panthers' YouTube channel on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. ET. "I just draw so much gratitude. Your life is literally in their hands."

To provide that protection, the offensive line had to be a cohesive unit in a way that admittedly hadn't been the case in recent years, thanks to injuries, coaching, and roster turnover. Ikem Ekwonu has been a part of this unit through good and bad. When Hunt and Lewis joined the group in the spring, Ekwonu had his first inclination that this season could be different.

"Obviously, Rob came in, Rob's personality shined early, but I feel like D-Lew took a little while to warm up to us a little bit," Ekwonu shared, offering a bit of retrospective at the end of the season. "He was a little quiet, but once we got D-Lew laughing and joking in the room, I knew we were gonna be solid."

D-Lew started laughing during training camp, according to Ekwonu. From there, the unit began to meld.

"I feel like with the O-line, we're really growing together," Ekwonu continued. "The chemistry is getting better, we're getting more connected on and off the field, and I feel like, when you get guys like that, that just love being around each other, love playing for each other, you know that the unit's gonna be that much stronger. Excited to keep on with these guys."

This maturation wasn't without attrition. That's the name of the game in the NFL. Austin Corbett began the year as the anchor at center, taking over a role he seemed destined to play. He played 174 pass-blocking snaps, giving up just one sack and seven pressures before a torn biceps in Week 5 ended his season.

Taylor Moton missed the first snaps of his career when an elbow injury kept him out in Week 6, and a knee flare-up had to be managed for the second half of the schedule.

Brady Christensen took over at center, doing an admirable job, before he was needed at tackle, which happened when Ekwonu missed Weeks 9 and 10 with an ankle injury. Cade Mays then began snapping and stayed there for much the remainder of the season, with Christensen acting as a versatile sixth-man and Yosh Nijman acting as the swing tackle in four games.

If you need a flow chart to keep up with it all, that's understandable. But unlike 2023, the musical chairs—albeit with much less movement than the previous season—didn't cripple a unit and, by proxy, an offense.

For that, credit must be given to the three-man coaching staff.

It's uncommon to assign three coaches to one unit in this way. But Dave Canales and crew saw the chance to give undivided attention to the offensive line. Harold Goodwin (run game coordinator) focuses on the guards, Joe Gilbert (offensive line coach) spends time with the tackles, and Keli'i Kekuewa (assistant offensive line coach) runs things for the centers.

"Goody and Joe, and the time that we've spent together, and just giving Keli'i the ability to work specifically with those guys has been awesome," Canales remarked of his coaching unit in early November. 'All across that line, that group has done a great job for us."

While there were flashes of what the offense could be in the first half of the season, carried by consistent performances from the offensive line, the Panthers saw it start to come together in Germany.

While Bryce Young threw for only 126 yards that day, he took only one sack. It was on the game's second play, and he wasn't touched again the remainder of the night while facing a New York Giants defensive front that was the shining star of their club. The line also cleared the way for 188 yards on the ground.

"I thought that first and foremost, starting up front with the offensive line, the preparation that went into this week, knowing where their issue players were and just having a plan for your pass sets and all that," remarked Canales at the time. "So Goody, Joe, Keli'i, really pouring into the guys, Cade, Brady popping out there at the tackle, and then Damien and Rob still playing a solid game. So gotta tip my cap to them."

A by-product of this growth across the line was Ekwonu becoming a much more stable piece at left tackle. In 2023, the former first-round pick doubled his sack number from his rookie season (giving up seven in 2022 versus 15.5 in 2023). He cut it in half this past season, only giving up seven sacks all year. All came in one-on-one assignments. He was also able to lower his quick quarterback pressure number this season as well, according to Next Gen Stats.

"I feel like I took a step this year in the right direction," Ekwonu said. "Obviously, I'm going to be critical of myself. Definitely some work to be done still; the job's never finished, the job's never perfect, but proud of the work I put in this year, definitely thankful for some of the guys in the coaching staff that came in to help me with my game a lot.

"Just being more consistent, being that left tackle that I need to be. Just protecting the blind side and just being more consistent in pass protection. That was my biggest goal this year, and I feel, like I said, that there is still work to be done, but I feel I have taken a big step forward."

As the season came to an end, a new moniker began floating around the unit: The Great Wall of Carolina.

This wall is built on a few things. Being mean, tough, and nasty. Protecting Bryce Young. Opening up lanes for Chuba Hubbard to have a 1,000-plus yard season, leading to a new contract and Hubbard treating his linemen to a shopping spree during the holidays. And finally, always bringing the vibes.

It took over 2,000 years to build the Great Wall of China. The Carolina Panthers don't have that gift of time, but foundational pieces were laid and built upon in one year. And as the Super Bowl on Sunday night between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs showcased, this game—for all its flash and razzle-dazzle—is still won in the trenches and by protecting your quarterback.

The Carolina Panthers feel like they're doing just that.

"I've been believing since the beginning, you know what I mean,, since OTAs, I was believing like I want to win," shared an effusive Robert Hunt at the end of the Panthers season.

"I ain't come here just to sweat with (head strength and conditioning coach) Jeremy (Scott) in the workout room or run out there in the hot heat for fun. Obviously, we get paid a lot of money to do this, but I want to win. The goal is to win, so I've always believed.

"It wasn't perfect. We were 1-7. It was questionable. Obviously, everybody probably creeps into their mind like, damn, but then, you start to see what we can be. People start to compete,, it was good to see.

"So I saw it, I believe, and I believe now, we're going in the right direction, and this offseason will be great for us, and I'm excited for what we can do in the Carolinas. I really am. I'm excited for this city to turn around; hopefully, we can do that and build something great. I just hope I can be a part of that and see that, and that'd be the coolest thing for me because we all know how it's been, and to see it go where it can, I would love to see that."

Inevitably, rosters will change from year to year. The offensive line unit of 2025 will look different than the one we saw in the 2024 season. The standard has been set, though, the foundation has been laid, and the only scary things around this offensive line unit moving forward will be a product of joy.