Line injuries slowing offense

Larry Fitzgerald, Rod Rutherford, Brandon Miree, Kris Wilson, Claude Harriott and Lewis… Larry Fitzgerald, Rod Rutherford, Brandon Miree, Kris Wilson, Claude Harriott and Lewis Moore are all gone. The names that have been associated with Panther football for the last few seasons no longer remain in Oakland; now, during spring football, Panther head coach Walt Harris will have his first chance to find replacements.

Quarterback, running back, wide receiver and most of the offensive line positions are open, and that is just one side of the ball.

Last year, the offensive line appeared to need the most help. Throughout the season, the offensive line struggled and could not help jump-start a weak running game. Despite rotating running backs during the season after Miree was injured, neither the line nor the running game ever became very consistent or effective.

Several months later, the offensive line looks to be in even more trouble. With the loss of starters Dan LaCarte, Matt Morgan and John Schall to graduation, the returning Panther linemen have some huge shoes to fill. Currently, three players with experience are also out with injuries, namely, Matt Maiers, Justin Belarski and Rob Petitti. These players may miss all of spring. Because of those injuries, the Panthers’ only two players who have experience are John Simonitis and Rob Fredrick.

In order to help the depth problem of the offensive line, the Panthers’ coaches have moved former defensive lineman Troy Banner to offensive guard. The Panthers will also bring in three offensive line recruits who will join the team this fall, but as of now, the line is very shallow, and filled with youthful players.

Thus far, the inexperience has shown, and has hampered the offense this spring. With competition heating up at running back and quarterback, Harris and his coaching staff have some evaluating to do, but with the inconsistencies on the offensive line, making evaluations is proving to be difficult.

“I can’t evaluate right now. It’s hard to evaluate when your players can’t get back to the line of scrimmage consistently,” Harris said.

Harris is correct in his comments, as several times during Tuesday’s practice, neither Jawan Walker nor Raymond Kirkley, both running backs, were able to do much of anything. The offensive line failed to open up holes throughout the day and also struggled in protecting whichever quarterback happened to be in the backfield. False starts, fumbled snaps, and botched assignments all took place during the session, but these things happen in the spring.

Since most of the offensive line’s returning players are hurt, there is a lack of leadership, and Harris also recognizes this: “No [we don’t have any leaders], we have no one to step in; we have people out.” Once the injured players return, it will give this group an opportunity to gel, but for now, it is hard to judge how much offensive talent the team has.

“It is hard to gauge where we are when we keep making offensive mistakes. I am not a happy camper right now; we just make too many mistakes,” Harris said.

The Panthers will resume spring practice on Thursday at 2:45 p.m., and will conclude spring sessions with the spring game to be held Sat. April 10th at 1 p.m. at Heinz Field.