Offensive line situation looks cloudier than ever
This is now officially a position of concern for the Carolina Panthers…
This may not be news Carolina Panthers fans want to hear: The offensive line is still a work in progress
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Friday at Fan Fest, the reviews were not good (at least on the part of the media) about the offensive line. This has been a position of concern ever since the departure of Andrew Norwell, and the outlook did not improve when right tackle Daryl Williams went down with an injury on July 28.
Tim Weaver of PanthersWire.com did a report on seven observations he took away from Fan Fest and he gave a clearer picture of what the offensive line may look like.
"The position battles at right tackle and left guard are ongoing, but Taylor Moton and Amini Silatolu are still in the lead to replace Daryl Williams and Andrew Norwell, respectively."
Back in June, I wrote about Silatolu possibly getting first-team reps once training camp began, and the reviews for Silatolu were very negative. I myself, am not too keen about Silatolu getting first-team reps.
Moton is a player that I personally would feel a bit more comfortable with starting on the offensive line. He has a bit more experience than Silatolu and would add a nice veteran presence on the line.
The rest of the line, at least how it looks for now, has Matt Kalil at left tackle, Ryan Kalil at center, and Trai Turner at the right guard spot. At least at those positions, there is for the most part, solid veteran presences there. Especially with the injury to Williams, those are definitely needed.
Although the positions mentioned above seem more concrete than Moton and Silatolu’s (at least at the moment) the line in itself is still a work in progress as Weaver notes.
"On Thursday, the normally cool Rivera snapped on the unit for its lack of progress and even dropped an F-bomb in the bargain. The offensive line may turn out to be Carolina’s Achilles heel this season."
I have tried to remain positive about the Carolina Panthers offensive line situation, but the fact of the matter is, things are not looking good. Obviously, the injury to Williams did not help matters, but things at the position were not exactly looking stellar before. I was hoping that someone at the position would really stand out, but it appears that is not the case either.
I am afraid that Cam Newton will have to (quite literally) run for his life for the majority of the season. For a quarterback that has already taken a lot of hits throughout the course of his career, this is less than ideal. With how often he runs the ball, he already gets hit a lot as it is. A shaky offensive line will probably not help matters.
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Now, it is time to be worried. This position was one that was thought to be an Achilles’ heel for the team, and it may make things difficult for the offense in the fall.