IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
Well, a funny thing happened to the Eagles' offensive line on the way to the NFL draft ...
After losing stalwarts Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan, the line suddenly has each of its presumed starters under contract until at least 2013 and all are under 30 years old.
The Eagles liked to make a big deal about how many games the members of the offensive line played together. Well, injuries notwithstanding, they might be able to start trotting that stat out again in the near future.
Here is what it looks like at the moment, although it is a long way between now and the start of the season.
Left tackle: Jason Peters, 27, signed through 2014.
Left guard: Todd Herremans, 26, signed through 2013.
Center: Jamal Jackson, 29 next month, signed through 2013.
Right guard: Shawn Andrews, 26, signed through 2015.
Right tackle: Stacy Andrews, 28, signed through 2014.
Obviously, there are no guarantees.
Stacy Andrews is coming off ACL surgery that will keep him out of the post-draft minicamps, but has said he will be ready for training camp.
Shawn Andrews was injured in Week 2 against Dallas and needed back surgery. He missed the remainder of the season, but is said to be ready for the minicamps. Shawn also should benefit by the addition of his brother and his onetime Arkansas teammate Jason Peters.
By most accounts, Jackson did not have a great year last season. Asked about his center at the owners meetings in March, coach Andy Reid said: "I thought Jamaal did a pretty good job in the pass game. I think he can keep working on some stuff in the run game." At the same time, Reid also said he thought Herremans deserved to be in the Pro Bowl last year.
Herremans and both Andrews can play either guard or tackle.
Beyond the presumed starters, the Eagles have Max Jean-Gilles, who filled in admirably for Andrews before getting hurt, and Nick Cole, who replaced Jean-Gilles. The Birds also have three young O-linemen they drafted in 2008: tackle King Dunlap, guard Mike Gibson and guard Mike McGlynn. Plus, tackles Winston Justice and Chris Patrick.
And don't you know they will find a way to draft an offensive lineman somewhere next weekend, just not as high as everyone projected with Peters now on the roster.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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