Seahawks stretched with Bobby Wagner out

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks’ linebacker depth is about to be tested.

The Seahawks have ruled standout middle linebacker Bobby Wagner inactive for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers because of a pectoral injury suffered last week. Though Wagner was earlier listed as questionable, this isn’t much of a surprise after Wagner could not participate in practices on Wednesday or Thursday.

But just because the Seahawks spent several days preparing to play without Wagner doesn’t mean it will be easy, and it will require a domino effect of moves in the linebacker corps, starting with moving outside linebacker K.J. Wright to the middle, and back-filling from there with backups like Kevin Pierre-Louis and Brock Croyle.

Look to see if the Panthers offense can exploit those backups, especially on scramble plays for quarterback Cam Newton, and in the passing game in the middle of the field with tight end Greg Olsen.

Wright is certainly capable in the middle and will be able to play all three downs, losing Wagner is a significant blow. He’s one of the NFL’s fastest inside linebackers, strong as a run defender and in pass coverage, but his most valuable asset his instincts and the way he can direct the Seattle defense.  He leads Seattle with 41 tackles, and he scored a touchdown on a fumble return last week against Cincinnati.

The Seahawks lost two of the five games they played without Wagner last year, while he dealt with a toe injury (though they did record a 13-9 win against Carolina sans Wagner), and his return transformed the Seahawks defense over the final six weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs last year.

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.