4 Carolina Panthers on their final warning at the Texans in Week 3

Dennis Daley – Carolina Panthers OG

There will come a time when Dennis Daley runs out of chances to become a potential starting option for the Carolina Panthers moving forward. The interior offensive lineman hasn’t exactly set the world alight during his time on the field this season, but an injury to Pat Elflein means he’ll get another shot at left guard on Thursday Night Football.

Simply put, this has to go well for Daley.

Otherwise, he could find himself on the outside looking in through the remainder of the campaign.

The former sixth-round pick clearly wasn’t comfortable at the right guard position in Week 1. Daley prefers things on the other side of the protection, but things didn’t get much better when the South Carolina product came in for Elflein against the New Orleans Saints.

One thing Daley might have going for him in Week 3 is a lack of quality on the Houston Texans. It would be a huge surprise if the Panthers struggled in the face of a team in disarray behind the scenes and with a legitimate shot at getting the No. 1 overall selection, so the lineman has to make his presence felt early and often.

Any failure to do so would see Carolina either install Brady Christensen into the starting lineup or explore the free-agent market for a better option with Elflein missing three weeks at a minimum after being placed on the reserve/injured list.