The first thing you need to know is that Cam Newton calls him Bucky. Why?
“You ever seen the movie Bucky Larson?”
That was Newton’s answer to where the nickname came from this week, and if you haven’t seen the 2011 Nick Swardson vehicle, you’re not missing much. But if you haven’t been paying attention to Tyler Larsen’s play substituting for all-pro center Ryan Kalil, you have been missing out on a player who may be a key component on the Panthers’ offensive line this Sunday against the Saints. With Kalil ailing after waking up Sunday with a “crick in his neck”, Larsen was thrust back into the starting lineup against Buffalo in Week 2, the same spot he occupied during the final five games of the 2016 season and performed admirably. After finding out he was starting twenty minutes before kickoff on Sunday, he earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 80.2 and did not allow pressure to reach Cam Newton on any pass plays.
Via Pro Football Focus
Larsen, who spent the 2015 NFL season digging ditches for his father’s landscaping company, was signed to a futures contract after working out with the Panthers at the tail end of their 15-1 campaign and spent the season as a depth piece behind both Kalil and former backup Gino Gradkowski. But when Gradkowski and Kalil both went to injured reserve at the end of last season, Larsen found himself as the starting center on an NFL team.
From digging ditches to patrolling the trenches.
As the 2017 training camp progressed, Larsen secured the backup role and like most backups, he both knows his role and relishes any opportunity he can get. “The guys that are backups, we always know that you have that mentality that you’re the next guy up; we prepare just the same as anyone else, if it’s our time, there’s not really any thought of ‘Oh shoot, how long?’ It’s just, ‘Alright, I’m ready to go.’ and let’s just get whatever plays I can and do the best I can,” Larsen said. “You love playing the game, so any chance you can, you want to be out there.”
With head coach Ron Rivera admitting there is some concern over whether Kalil will miss this Sunday against New Orleans, the value of having a competent backup becomes even more clear. The NFL season is a four-month long grind and no team is immune from injuries. Luckily, the Panthers feel confident in Larsen’s ability to step in; last week in practice Larsen didn’t get the full volume of reps, but this week, he’s taken every rep thus far with Kalil missing both Wednesday and Thursday to better prepare him for New Orleans.
“He’s very smart. He’s a very bright football player, he’s athletic, he’s got a good anchor. He’s powerful, he’s really just a solid football player.”
-Head coach Ron Rivera on Tyler Larsen
If Kalil, who has battled injuries throughout his career, is forced to miss Sunday or games after it, Tyler Larsen will be ready to step in and do his job. Just like his namesake Bucky did in Hollywood.
