The Panthers had a strong offseason and should be back in contention for a playoff spot this year, barring a rash of major injuries. However, the best laid plans in the NFL are often undone by poor offensive line play.
After watching Cam Newton get beaten up and injured by the Steelers, Carolina finally addressed its issues up front. In free agency, they added center Matt Paradis, who in theory should be an upgrade over Ryan Kalil, now with the Jets. In the draft, the Panthers used a second-round pick on Greg Little, who should be the left tackle of the future.
Even though the line did not perform particularly well during the preseason, Pro Football Focus still has the group ranked No. 10 in the league going into the regular season.
“Second-round pick Greg Little is still in concussion protocol, but if he has to have his number called at some point during this season, he looked more than capable. He allowed only four pressures on 82 pass-blocking snaps this preseason.”
Even if Little is available to play this week, we won’t see him in the starting lineup. Daryl Williams has been getting first-team reps all offseason and will get the nod at left tackle.
We know Taylor Moton and Trai Turner are going to hold down the right side and Paradis should be fine in the middle. The x-factor for this unit will be how well Williams protects on the blind side and Greg Van Roten (LG) next to him.
