Dolphins’ Suh presents big test for Panthers’ young offensive guards

Second-year offensive guard Andrew Norwell sat down in the interview room at Wofford College Tuesday and remarked how surprised he was the media even wanted to talk to him.

Linemen are supposed to do their work quietly, and if they are mentioned it’s rarely good.

That Norwell and fellow second-year guard Trai Turner have flown under the radar this preseason isn’t a bad thing for them, but they’ll be impossible to ignore this week when the Dolphins and superstar defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh come to town.

“I think it’ll be a really good test for them and I’m excited about it,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “Both of those guys have had good camps and both of those guys have played well.”

The Panthers will practice in full pads against the Dolphins on Wednesday and Thursday at Wofford, and the job of Turner and Norwell will be to keep the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history away from their $103 million quarterback in Cam Newton.

“The attitude he brings to the game is great,” Norwell said of Suh, who’s been fined eight times in his NFL career for being overly aggressive. “He’s a great finisher. This game is about being tough, and he’s definitely a tough guy. We just got to go out there and focus on our job and get the most out of the experience.”

That Norwell is in this position is surprising considering where he was a year ago. An undrafted free agent out of Ohio State last year, Norwell made the final roster but was inactive for the first six games.

The three-time All Big Ten player eventually became the starter at left guard as the offensive line battled through poor play and injuries to solidify late in the season.

What helps Norwell is his arm length and punch. He has the power to knock a defender back and the strength to hold his block inside the line.

On the other side of center Ryan Kalil is Turner, the right guard. A third-round pick in 2014, Turner played in 13 games with nine starts.

“Trai is always a work in progress because he’s really a guy that’s got to be technically sound,” Rivera said. “And when he is, he’s really good because he’s in good body position, good knee bend, good hand placement. He’s as strong as anybody I’ve been around, especially at the guard position. He’s athletic, he moves very, very well.”

When it came to prohibiting rushers from getting to the quarterback, few guards were better than Norwell and Turner. According to football analytics site Pro Football Focus, Norwell allowed just two sacks and one quarterback hit last year.

Turner, meanwhile, allowed zero sacks and four quarterback hits. Only four other guards in the NFL who played at least half of their team’s snaps could say the same thing.

Their run blocking still needs work, though. Last week against Buffalo, the Panthers rushed for only 5 yards on eight Fozzy Whittaker carries in the three series the first-team offense played.

“We made a few errors, but we’re going to get them cleaned up,” Norwell said. “And we had a limited opportunity to run the ball, so I think that played a part. We’re just going to get better for the Miami Dolphins.”

Last year, the Panthers contained Suh in Week 2 when he played for Detroit. Suh had three tackles, including two for a loss, but no quarterback hits or sacks.

Turner was limited in that game and Norwell didn’t play, so this week their two practices and one exhibition against Suh will be the best early test for them.

“We were able to block him (last year) and that doesn’t happen all the time because he’s a dynamic football player,” Rivera said. “We know that and hopefully he’ll bring it and really challenge our young guys.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Dolphins’ Suh presents big test for Panthers’ young offensive guards."