Eagles Offseason Gameshow – Offensive Line: You Are The Weakest Link
In the off-season, we at Eagledelphia have the arduous task of completing the gap of ho-hum days between the 2015 NFL draft and organized team activities, until the time that official training camp with pads hits and the team news begins to flow like threads into the 2015 NFL season tapestry. So between family vacations, barbecues, hot weather and cool air conditioning, we need to change things up and give you new perspectives about a team which you already know a great deal.
One way of looking at the team in this period is to use the old game show format of "The Weakest Link" and try to determine, of the current roster, which area of the team will not meet its lofty expectations. The old adage "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link", so the reasonable expectation is that the team goes only as far as this weakest link can take us. This series begins a series of expose's where we look at a squad from the 2015 Philadelphia Eagles, and look at it as though it hits adversity. How limiting will that adversity place the team? How much can the coaches and depth of the roster absorb, before the hope of post-season play in 2015 is no longer realistic.
(The 2014 Eagles offensive line was one of the NFL's best. But with the loss of both guards: Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans, this 2015 squad could be the team's weakest link)
The Background
The 2015 Philadelphia Eagles offensive line is in transition. Gone are the familiar faces of swiss-army-knife Todd Herremans at right guard and surprise starter and pro bowl left guard Evan Mathis. Transition is a stretch though. The team has not drafted an offensive lineman in the past two years. In fact, the team has only recently added offensive line help via free agency when they sign 0ut of retirement offensive guard John Moffitt.
The hope is that the Eagles offensive line will not miss a beat. The fear is that the Eagles offensive line will fall apart with the first true test or injury. The truth is likely somewhere between the two.
The Tally
Let's look at how many questions the offensive line has gotten wrong in the off-season:
(1) Keep the core of the offensive line intact - Let's face it. As long as the Philadelphia Eagles have the services of 12 year NFL veteran left offensive tackle Jason Peters, this will be an above average offensive line. He's that good. Starting at right offensive tackle will be Lane Johnson. Drafted by Chip Kelly in 2013, Johnson has been steadily improving each season. His athletic physical style is the perfect bookend with Peters in Kelly's dynamic offense. This will be his third season, which will likely be his best yet. Rounding out the core is center Jason Kelce. Kelce suffered a groin injury in 2014, and missed four games, but was given the nod to the pro bowl. Now healthy, he's back to his 2013 form. Kelce is a sub 300 center, but he's as strong as an ox. His size, skill, and play are very similar to that of all pro Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday. Kelce is in his fifth NFL season.
The two new faces this season are to be determined. It's a fairly safe bet that eighth year Allen Barbre will line up at left guard alongside Jason Peters. The coaching staff has been high on Barbre throughout 2015. In fact, Tra Thomas – former assistant coach – made it a point to suggest that Barbre's style is better suited for the Eagles offensive line than Mathis:
“I know Evan is a two-time Pro Bowler, but he and Jason Peters play a different style of game. Evan Mathis is a guy who likes to jump set and likes to take everything at the line of scrimmage. Jason Peters is a guy who likes to set back and let his guy come to him. He came up in the same school of thought as Juan Castillo. He likes to count his steps and everything is timing and about punching the defender to take him past the quarterback. When you bring in Allen Barbre on that left side, Big Al and Jason, they kind of move the same. I think you will see a better rapport and better chemistry. These two will play better together. Just because Allen sets more at a 45-degree angle and he punches his guy. "They already know what they’re going to get out of Allen Barbre. He’s exactly what you want out of a guard. He’s got the right mentality for a guard. … The left side is going to be a little more firmer, especially when it comes to games."” – Tra Thomas interview on 97.5
(2) Fill The Void
The last piece to the puzzle is the right guard,and likely that will be the position where the squad will be most tested. Even prior to the parting of ways between the Eagles and Mathis, the team was in pursuit of reinforcements for the offensive line. Despite the first wave of organized team activities (OTAs), the team continued to pursue talent. After failing to sign guard Chris Chester, they did manage to lure John Moffitt out of self-imposed retirement. While some see Moffitt in the running for a starting role, I'm comfortable in a belief that he fills the reserve depth role while either Tobin or Gardner assume a starting guard role.
(3) Get Younger And Deeper
The Philadelphia Eagles offense runs a lot of plays. They use that speed, that velocity, to gain an advantage over their opponents. But each contact of players, each snap of the ball, is an opportunity for injury.
And with injury comes rehab for the starter, and new opportunity for the reserve. The Eagles had a taste of that in 2014 when the team lost tackle Johnson due to a four game suspension, then lost Kelce and Mathis to injury, and finally had sixth man Barbre lost to the season. They got quality backup starts in center David Molk, guard Matt Tobin, and tackle Andrew Gardner.
It was that experience that likely made Mathis and Herremans expendable at all. By the time the offensive line was assembled as well as it could be in 2014, the team was in a superior position for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the defense waned in the second half of the season, and the heroics of off-the-bench quarterback Mark Sanchez was not enough to avoid losing three of the final four games of the season, and ending up out of post season.
It's now time to cast your votes, fans. What do you say about the Eagles offensive line in 2015? Is it the weakest link?
