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Fitting In
Vincent provides experience for Panthers at guard
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Published: August 19, 2008
CHARLOTTE - When the Carolina Panthers opened training camp last month, four spots on the offensive line were settled but there was no clear-cut starter at right guard.
Now, there is.
Keydrick Vincent won the job over Toniu Fonoti, Milford Brown and Jeremy Bridges, and he'll be in the starting lineup Saturday night when the Panthers play the Washington Redskins at Bank of America Stadium in their third preseason game.
But Vincent insists that he didn't get caught up in the competition while it was going on or look at this as going on.
"Not really," he said yesterday. "I came into this thing as, I want to be a Carolina Panther, man. If they had me second, third string, I was going to come out here to play to the best of my ability and do what I do, and be prepared. I really don't look at things as competition. I'm just trying to be a part of this team."
Vincent seems to be exactly what the Panthers need at the position. At 6-5 and 332 pounds, he adds size and bulk to the biggest offensive line in franchise history. And as an eight-year veteran who has had stints with Arizona, Pittsburgh and Baltimore previously, he has the experience and demeanor to help rookie Jeff Otah, who will start at right tackle.
Vincent was signed as a free agent after spending most of last season with the Cardinals.
"They wanted to get bigger and more physical, and I'm a big and physical guy," Vincent said. "So I just fit right into what we're trying to do this year."
Jordan Gross, who moved from right tackle to left tackle when the Panthers shuffled several linemen during the offseason, said that Vincent started standing out quickly among the right guards after training camp started.
"He's definitely been the most consistent guy there," Gross said. "He's a veteran guy. He's got experience. He's taken the mentor role with Otah to help him through everything, and he's just a good fit for the type of player we want on the O-line. I think he's helping Otah a lot. I know when I played next to (Kevin) Donnalley who was in his 12th or 13th year my rookie year, it really helped. It's just great to be next to someone who's been through it. It's an extra comfort zone for a rookie."
Coach John Fox had a similar assessment.
"He's got great experience, and he's got a great mind-set and work ethic that I think brings a lot to that room and that position," Fox said. "He's a guy that we're very pleased with at this point."
Vincent started his career in Pittsburgh in 2001, and spent four seasons there. He started all 16 games on the 2004 team that was second in the NFL in rushing and went to the AFC championship game. He signed with Baltimore as an unrestricted free agent the next year, and started 21 games during two seasons there on another solid offensive line.
He was waived by the Ravens at the start of last season, caught on with Arizona and played in seven games, but was sidelined much of the season with injuries.
"I feel like it was a redshirt year last year," Vincent said. "It's real funny because I was coming off a sports hernia injury and I was able to heal up. So Carolina got a brand new player."
He wouldn't have been the favorite to win the starting job after the team's minicamp or the team's summer-school workouts. In fact, Fonoti was with the first unit when training camp began. But by the end of the first week, Vincent was running with the first team.
"Any time you come to a new team, a new offense -- especially for me -- my big thing in minicamps and all prior to training camp is to learn the system and what they do and how they wanted it done," Vincent said. "So I started off a little slow. But Coach Mags (Dave Magazu, offensive line coach) did a good job of working with me on some things, so I got a chance to go home this summer and look at how they wanted things done. And I came back for training camp ready to go."
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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