Carolina Panthers: Predicting the offensive line order

Carolina Panthers potential combinations for the offensive line moving forward…

Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is not normally the type of coach to publicly voice his concerns about the team when a player or a handful of players go down with an injury. Rivera likes to have faith in the guys currently on the roster.

Unfortunately, both tackles Matt Kalil and Daryl Williams will miss some time despite being considered week-to-week and guard Amini Silatolu is day-to-day. Neither participated but both Williams and Silatolu recently attended practice.

Rivera’s mentality changed however after Kalil underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Monday. Rivera is “absolutely concerned” about the stability of the offensive line as Kalil is the third linemen to sustain an injury this offseason.

More from Cat Crave

Now, the Panthers must use players already on the roster to get them through the first half of the regular season. If so, Carolina is most likely to select from the following 10 players to currently fill slots on the line:

Tyler Larsen, Greg Van Roten, Jeremiah Sirles, Tyler Larsen, Ryan Kalil, Daryl Williams, Taylor Moton, Adam Bisnowaty, Brendan Mahon and Taylor Hearn

This offseason Rivera has shuffled these guys around the line multiple times to determine which guys can play tackle, which players are better suited to play guard and vice versa. Rivera seems to have a lot of confidence in Moton. To this point, he has filled in for three positions on the offensive line: right tackle, left guard and now left tackle.

Rivera also values veteran experience therefore, it is safe to assume Silatolu will play a majority of the snaps at left guard when he is fully healed.

Sirles, 27, has experience at both left guard and right tackle. He also worked under offensive coordinator Norv Turner for two years in Minnesota. Sirles knows Turner’s system well therefore, he can help the promising rookies understand his goals for the offense.

After reading through practice notes and analyzing player strengths, I have created four versions of the offensive line that I think would be reasonably successful.

Lineup No. 1 (from left to right): Taylor Moton, Greg Van Roten, Ryan Kalil, Trai Turner, Jeremiah Sirles

Lineup No. 2 (from left to right): Taylor Moton, Tyler Larsen, Ryan Kalil, Trai Turner, Greg Van Roten

Lineup No. 3 (from left to right): Jeremiah Sirles, Greg Van Roten, Ryan Kalil, Trai Turner, Taylor Moton

Lineup No. 4 (from left to right): Taylor Moton, Brendan Mahon, Ryan Kalil, Trai Turner, Jeremiah Sirles

Next. Final Roster Projection Surprises. dark

It is worth mentioning that the Panthers released guard Kyle Busch Tuesday, which means, there is one roster spot available to sign another offensive lineman before roster cutdown day (Sept. 1).

Home/Carolina Panthers News