There has been speculation about how Taylor Moton will be used next season as Daryl Williams has grabbed firmly onto the starting right tackle role. Moton is a natural fit at the tackle position, but as I have said before, generally if you are able to play tackle you will be able to play guard as well. It would appear that Ron Rivera shares that belief, per his comments at the NFL owners meeting, published by Joe Person at the Charlotte Observer:
Rivera conceded how tough it would be replacing All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell, saying the former undrafted free agent was “everything you want in a football player.”
And while the Panthers signed free agent G Jeremiah Sirles last week, Rivera said Taylor Moton, a second-round pick last year, will get a chance to compete for the starting job.
Strangely enough, this seems to barely make it into the article, though in my eyes this is a fairly news worthy development. We have not had any formal announcement from anyone about what the plan for Moton was, but now we know he is in the mix for that spot. Maybe I am just a sucker for Hog Molly news.
I touched on whether I felt that Moton could reaslistically be the Panthers next starting left guard earlier this off-season, and I still stand by that assessment. Yes, he absolutely can do it. He’ll be monstrously sized at that position, but he has the potential to be quite dominant in this role. Pending whatever happens in the draft this year, I think there is a good chance he will give newly acquired free agent Jeremiah Sirles a run for his money, and win the spot.