The first preseason game has concluded and the season of overanalysis and overreaction has begun. The Carolina Panthers are undefeated after a 27-17 win against the Houston Texans but more importantly, fans got to see how the team has progressed over the offseason. Because of the importance and the lack of real depth at the offensive tackle position I wanted to take a moment to focus on how Amini Silatolu performed in his first game at offensive tackle.
Before we dive into his performance, it is important to know his past. Silatolu was drafted by the Panthers in 2012 and started 15 games at guard during his rookie year before being placed on injured reserve with a wrist injury; the following year Silatolu played in only three games before again being placed on IR, this time with a torn ACL. During the 2014 season, Silatolu started the first seven games at guard before losing the starting job to Andrew Norwell. In his final season with Carolina, Silatolu tore the other ACL after playing in nine games and subsequently the Panthers did not re-sign him due to concerns about his injuries. Silatolu was out of football completely during the 2016 season but Silatolu signed with the Panthers in February of this year and was expected, along with Chris Scott, to play a backup role to both Andrew Norwell and Trai Turner on the interior of the line during the 2017 season.
It came as a surprise to everyone when training camp began in Spartanburg that Silatolu was making the transition from guard to tackle and within a week, he seemed to win the backup left tackle role. Left tackle is an incredibly important position, and the backup is doubly important when the starter is Matt Kalil, an oft-injured player coming off offseason hip surgery. It now appears that Silatolu is the primary backup on the left side at both guard and tackle, with rookie Taylor Moton occupying the backup role on the right side. So if Silatolu is going to be playing tackle, let’s evaluate his performance at that position against the Texans.
While Silatolu’s health was clearly a concern before the 2016 season, he didn’t appear to be limited against the Texans. He came out of his stance quickly and cleanly, had good form when absorbing bull rushers and showed strong hands. More importantly, Silatolu didn’t show any deterioration in terms of lower body strength and flexibility. He anchored well and turned with defenders without issue. Unfortunately, Silatolu did not look agile enough to keep up with speed rushers, as shown in the play below, his first of the game. If he can hold off rookie linebacker Dayon Pratt for another second, McCaffrey has space to work with on the screen.
The Texans tested his agility by asking their edge rushers to run the arc and more often than not, Silatolu got turned perpendicular to the line of scrimmage, lost leverage and was eventually beaten by faster defenders. He also showed an inability to accurately predict who he was responsible for. There were a few times that directly after the snap, Silatolu hesitated trying to identify which player he needed to block and often picked incorrectly resulting in the edge rusher getting an extra step or two on him.
Amini Silatolu looked overwhelmed at times against the Texans. He missed assignments, got turned easily and got caught off balance more than an offensive tackle should. However, he showed all of the same qualities that made him a good guard before injury and would likely be a good backup along the interior. Considering this was the first time he had played offensive tackle in the NFL and the first time he had really played football in a year his performance was admirable; how he progresses in practice will be important to watch because of the current lack of depth along the offensive line. Silatolu missed practice yesterday but is expected to rejoin the team Wednesday in Nashville, but if he doesn’t improve his play on the outside, don’t be surprised to see the team adding a backup tackle for depth later in the preseason.
