So his latest position should be like old hat, right?
“I played left tackle in college,” the Panthers’ starting right tackle said Tuesday.
Because of Jonathan Martin’s retirement, Amini Silatolu’s calf, Nate Chandler’s knee and Daryl Williams’ inexperience, the Panthers have needed someone to pick up some snaps behind Michael Oher. So Remmers did, switching to the left side when Derek Anderson replaced Cam Newton Saturday against the Dolphins.
“Technique’s obviously a little different; you just have to flip everything in your head. Sometimes it gets a little confusing, but it’s fun,” Remmers said.
After beginning each of the Panthers’ preseason games at right tackle, Remmers finished both at different positions. Of his 58 snaps against the Bills and Dolphins, 38 were at right tackle, 17 at left tackle and three at center.
“It’s never ideal to have a guy learn three positions, but Mike’s shown that he’s got the flexibility and the intelligence to do that for us,” coach Ron Rivera said.
“He’s athletic and smart, and he knows how to use his technique, so he’s in a good spot for us.”
A walk-on at Oregon State, Remmers spent two and a half seasons as the Beavers’ starting right tackle before spending his senior year on the left side.
He then made five NFL stops in two seasons without landing a stable job. His sixth chance was the charm when he plugged the Panthers’ hole at right tackle last November.
But few jobs in the league are ever all that safe, especially when your team moves up to draft a guy at your position. So when he was asked to learn center during offseason workouts, he did.
“Usually, for every play I break it down, ‘OK, what’s the right tackle doing,?’ and go from there. In this case, I have to start from the inside-out, so it’s a little different for me. And the technique is completely different from tackle, as you can imagine,” Remmers said.
“I feel pretty confident in my skills at center, but I know I have a lot of work needed just getting more reps and snapping so it’s second nature. You don’t want to be thinking about it; you just have to go up there and do it.”
While Remmers took some first-team snaps at center Monday, Brian Folkerts is expected to start Friday’s night game against the Patriots in place of Ryan Kalil.
Remmers will begin in his usual spot. He’ll likely finish somewhere else.
“I’m ready for whatever they throw my way. I just want to play,” Remmers said. “I’m just trying to be the best player I can, and whatever position they feel it is, that’s OK with me.”[line]