With Silatolu out, it’s time to panic about the offensive line

For the Carolina Panthers, the offensive line situation is looking bleak….

Let’s just say the offensive line will not be a position of strength for the Carolina Panthers. In what has become almost a daily news piece, another member of the starting offensive line has fallen victim to the injury bug.

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This time, Amini Silatolu was the unlucky party as he was injured during practice on Tuesday. Upon arriving back in Charlotte and being evaluated, Silatolu suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. He will have surgery on Friday, and his condition will be monitored on a week to week basis per David Newton of ESPN.com

This means that undrafted rookie Brendan Mahon will have to step in and fill the void left by Silatolu. He will start on Thursday after having a very promising training camp.

As head coach Ron Rivera told Newton, Mahon is held in high regard.

"“We kept an eye on him [in the draft], and in the end when he didn’t get drafted and we got into rookie free agency, he was our first call,” Rivera said. “We got on him early and stayed on him.”"

Although I have high hopes for Mahon, this piece of news is not a good one for the Carolina Panthers. Frankly, it’s terrible. From the loss of Andrew Norwell in the offseason to the loss of Daryl Williams, the offensive line is in major trouble right now. There is no sense in sugarcoating it. The Carolina Panthers had little depth at the position before and now they have even less.

Although it would be easy to suggest that the team look outside the organization for help, my guess is that they will look internally. If they need to develop or work with a player in order to be ready for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, now would be the time.

It makes sense, as you want someone who is familiar with the schemes protecting the quarterback. Especially in the case of the Panthers, Cam Newton is so vital to the team. Any bit of familiarity, especially in this case, can only help.

Even still, now it is officially time to hit the panic button on the offensive line. Maybe after the game on Thursday, we will fell a bit better about Mahon. He could turn out to be the answer. As of right now, things are not looking so good, and I put the blame partly on the organization. They should have at least looked at potential options in the offseason, rather than potentially forcing them to make a move under pressure.

Nevertheless, the beat must go on. For the offensive line, the beat has clearly slowed down.