You’re probably familiar with the old saying, “If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”

The 2018 Carolina Panthers are apparently trying to create a new saying when it comes to the offensive line: “When you have five left guards, cross your fingers and pray one of them can become a legitimate starter.”

All-Pro left guard Andrew Norwell used to create gaping holes for his running backs to run through during his time in Charlotte. Norwell’s departure has now created a gaping hole on the offensive line that is yet to be filled. While it is still very early to be projecting depth charts for the upcoming season, several fairly credible websites have done just that. Here is the jumble of confusion that is the Panthers left guard situation:

Projected Depth Charts Source LG1 LG2 Source LG1 LG2 ESPN Tyler Larsen Taylor Moton Charlotte Observer Tyler Larsen Taylor Moton Fox Sports Amini Silatolu Jeremiah Sirles Yahoo Amini Silatolu Jeremiah Sirles CBS Sports Jeremiah Sirles Greg Van Roten

Five sites are predicting three different starters in Tyler Larsen, Amini Silatolu, and Jeremiah Sirles. Throw in Taylor Moton and Greg Van Roten as LG2 on some depth charts, and the Panthers have up to five players in the mix for the job.

The natural question is to ask who should start, and why? Here is some basic information on each of the potential starters:

LG Player Data Player Career Starts 2016 Off. Snaps 2017 Off. Snaps 2017 PFF Grade 2017 PFF Rank Player Career Starts 2016 Off. Snaps 2017 Off. Snaps 2017 PFF Grade 2017 PFF Rank Tyler Larsen 15 356 724 67.8 #16 Center Jeremiah Sirles 15 772 344 45.2 #48 Guard Amini Silatolu 31 0 256 40.5 NA Taylor Moton 0 0 64 63.6 NA Greg Van Roten 0 0 10 56.6 NA

My vote goes for Tyler Larsen. He has been competent over the last two seasons filling in at center for the oft-injured Ryan Kalil. At this point “competent” is probably the best the Panthers can hope for at left guard, and Larsen can be just that. From a long-term perspective, Larsen may be Kalil’s replacement at center after Kalil retires at the end of this season and starting him this season could assist in that important transition.

As for LG2 I’d love to see Taylor Moton and Jeremiah Sirles battle it out. Moton has only played 64 offensive snaps in two seasons after being drafted in the second round in 2016. It’s about time the Panthers gave Moton some reps to see if he can live up to the expectations of his lofty draft status. Sirles is new to the Panthers and seems perfectly capable of being a backup if things don’t work out with Moton.

I’d put Silatolu and Van Roten clearly behind the other three players mentioned above. Frankly, Silatolu has struggled so much over the years that I was surprised Carolina signed him for the 2018 season. The prospect of him playing meaningful snaps in 2018 is both baffling and terrifying, especially if it comes at Moton’s expense again. Van Roten pretty much is what he is at this point in his career after bouncing around the NFL and CFL since 2012.

So, CSR community, who do you think should start at left guard in 2018? Sound off in the poll and comments section below.