The Carolina Panthers may be settling on a right guard to finish out their bumpy 2023 campaign.
As of Friday afternoon, Gabe Jackson has been officially added to the active roster. The 10th-year veteran, who signed to the practice squad back on Nov. 29, was elevated to the game-day roster for each of the past three weeks.
Jackson’s first bit of action came in the Week 15 win over the Atlanta Falcons, where relieved starting right guard J.D. DiRenzo to start the second half. The 32-year-old filled in admirably over his 33 snaps, earning a team-high 78.7 run-blocking grade and a 71.9 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.
Interim head coach Chris Tabor spoke about Jackson’s impressive debut the day after.
“He came in there, we ripped off a couple good runs there, right away when he came in,” Tabor told reporters on Dec. 18. “He’s a strong player, been around the block, has a lot of experience. And it was just something that we felt like we just needed to do at that time. Thought that he did some really nice things.”
Surprisingly, Jackson wouldn’t get the starting nod in Week 16 against the Green Bay Packers. He would, however, come in even earlier for DiRenzo—recording 55 snaps in the 33-30 loss.
