Offensive parts riding on Bell
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Offensive parts riding on Bell
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles announced Wednesday that they've reached a five-year agreement with offensive tackle Demetress Bell.
The loss of Jason Peters, the team's best offensive lineman, cannot be overstated. No one is expecting Bell to play at Peters' level, but a lot is riding on him playing well in 2012.
After the Eagles' coaching staff has a chance to see what it has in Bell, Andy Reid and company will have to make important decisions that will impact the offense.
Here's a look at some of the players who could be directly affected by the switch from Peters to Bell:
Brent Celek - After a slow start, he averaged nearly 70 receiving yards per game in the final 10. Part of that had to do with fewer drops. Part of it had to do with getting on the same page as Michael Vick. And part of it had to do with Celek being used more as a receiver and less as a blocker on passing downs. But depending on Bell's performance in pass protection, and how teams attack Vick, Celek may be needed more as a blocker. Last season, against the Bills, with Jason Peters out and King Dunlap at left tackle, Celek was called on to block 36 percent of the time on passing downs, per Pro Football Focus. That was his highest percentage in any single game, and it was the result of Buffalo blitzing, as well as wanting to give Dunlap help. Vick was extremely efficient in getting the ball to Celek in the second half of last season. But part of the tight end's role will rely on Bell holding his own in pass protection.
Michael Vick - This one's pretty obvious, but Vick's quest to stay healthy and avoid turnovers gained another degree of difficulty when Peters went down. Reid told reporters at the owners meetings that the coaching staff might have given Vick too much responsibility in terms of calling protections last year. Having confidence in those calls could be an issue if he's not sure that Bell can handle the defense's best pass rusher off the edge. By my count, the Eagles will face a pass-rusher who had double-digit sacks last season six times: DeMarcus Ware (19.5) twice, Jason Pierre-Paul twice (16.5) twice, Baltimore's Terrell Suggs (14) and Detroit's Cliff Avril (11). Guys like John Abraham, James Harrison, Brian Orakpo, and LaMarr Woodley are also on the schedule. In other words, Bell is going to be tested. And Vick, Jason Kelce and Howard Mudd have their work cut out for them.
DeSean Jackson - This one goes hand-in-hand with Vick, really. According to Pro Football Focus, 27.4 percent of Jackson's targets were 20 yards or more downfield last season. And 13.7 percent of Vick's throws traveled 20 yards or more downfield. That ranked seventh among all NFL quarterbacks. The Eagles' offense still takes a lot of shots deep in the passing game, but the line needs to give Vick time to make those throws. Four of Jackson's nine drops last year came inside the numbers and within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage. Given his size and concussion history, I'm not a believer that Jackson's ever going to hold on to those balls. But as I've said before, he needs to come down with the deep balls, four of which he dropped in 2011.
LeSean McCoy - ESPN.com keeps track of where running backs run, breaking down carries and yards by Left Sideline, Left, Middle, Right and Right Sideline. The first chart shows number of carries in each of those directions.
| Left Sideline | Left | Middle | Right | Right Sideline |
| 65 | 57 | 56 | 39 | 56 |
As you can see, McCoy ran to the left/left sideline about 45 percent of the time and to the right/right sideline about 35 percent of the time. Todd Herremans is a good run blocker, and when Danny Watkins showed potential last year, it was often in the run game. But Peters was outstanding at shoving the defensive end upfield and then taking out linebackers at the next level, something Mudd will undoubtedly be asking Bell to do.
Here are McCoy's yards per carry in each direction:
| Left Sideline | Left | Middle | Right | Right Sideline |
| 5.2 | 2.8 | 5.8 | 4.0 | 5.9 |
It's no surprise that McCoy had success getting to the sidelines and breaking big runs. He picked up a lot of yards rushing up the middle too. But it is somewhat surprising that he averaged just 2.8 yards per carry to the left. Now, that doesn't mean all those runs were designed to go to the left. Perhaps McCoy made poor reads or someone on the right side (a lineman or tight end) missed a block that forced him left.
Regardless, as good as McCoy was last year, which was his first season in Mudd's scheme, he'll face a tougher task in 2012 without Peters paving the way.
Evan Mathis - He started just 22 games in his first six NFL seasons, but when Mathis got a shot last season, he made the most of it. Now, the Eagles will be counting on him to turn in a repeat performance without Peters on his left and second-year player Jason Kelce on his right. Mathis suddenly has the second-most starts of any of the five projected Eagles linemen.
The offensive line as a whole goes from a definite strength to a question mark. I mentioned Mathis above, and the Eagles know what they have in Herremans. Watkins needs to improve, specifically in pass protection, and Kelce needs to continue to get better too.
As for Bell, I'll take a look tonight at some of his games with the Bills last year and offer up some notes on Thursday.
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Tpizza - I think you and Skapadia are both right. Toddfather has the most, then Mathis (followed by Bell, Kelce, Watkins in that order)— dragoon6- "IF a Frong had wings" DUH...IF he can stay healthy and that is not his past...IF King can learn how to play ? and IF we get another stud linebacker and IF we can get two safeties that can acutally tackle and IF we get a stud DT to stop the run...and IF they sign McCoy...and IF Michael can stay healthy....YUP that covers most of it....so koolade drinkers can now jump on board....Andy can be extended and Jeffery can make some more inane comments....."IF".....the Giants, the Packers, the Saints, The Forty Niners, The Patriots, and the Steelers can all go 7 and 9, yes, we may get to the playoffs......sounds like we are "all in" once again on the "IF" Train...— nuggett
- Tpizza, yes, I meant second-most behind Herremans (not including Peters). StopBooing, fair point. He still had a lot of success getting around the tackles to the sidelines though. -SK— skapadia
- Z-force is right. Should be a good move if Bell stays healthy.— armchairGM
- Its not a bad move at all....I'm sure the contract is front loaded with a way for the Eagles to get out with minimal damage after 2 years. If nothing else it enables them to focus on the draft now with taking the best available and not be forced into taking an OL earlier then they want. He's not Peters but who (available) really is??? At the very least it creates competition and adds depth....hopefully he works out...Draft: I still want the BC linebacker and move him to the strong side or move down and take Safety Baron....DT is a position of depth in this draft so no real need to draft one in the first unless u lov one!!!— bbrady25
- Dragoon, not sure. Thought he meant at their current positions but I don't recall if Todd OR Kelce missed a game last year. SK is good about editing errors though. No matter, glad the LT issue is settled and the D comes back to the forefront like it should. Good off season so far. Solid draft would both surprise me and make me happy. Fingers crossed...— tpizza
- Hey nugget, it would be nice "IF" you switched teams!— eaglesanch
- Fans can complain all they want about the Eagles supposedly being "cheap" but last year they went out and got the top free-agent. This year, they re-signed Jackson to a long-term deal, signed some of their other guys to extensions and still had money to add Ryans when he became available and to add Bell when Peters went down. Many NFL teams would have gotten a journeymen, fringe roster guy to fill in on the O-line or would have tried a rookie. The Eagles spend their money pretty wisely. Even their bad signings like Young and Brown are low-money, low-risk deals. These guys manage the salary cap as well as anyone in the NFL.— JimG
- JimG, Joe Banner is unappreciated and serves his purpose.— tpizza
- rejoice, Eagles fans!
you already have your excuse for next season's disappointments.— ekw555 - Peters was a terrific lineman. He looked like a tsunami coming at those LB's and DB's when he was out ther in front of McCoy. Are some dopes saying trade him after he gets back? From what I've heard about Bell is that he's solid so hopefully he'll do OK. Peter's was downright dominating. Probably a good move getting Bell.
As far as the draft goes it should still be Luc!!! Then a QB in the next round.— Phillyexp - This is the same thread that just one year ago Hater bots were screaming for Peters to be traded. Now that he's settled in and had a ALL PRO season, there are still folks talking trade after he's recovered from injury - amazing really! Bell played B-Ball prior to football and Peters was a TE before switching to OT - seems like Howard Mudd has spied something in Bell's game tape that makes him believe he can get Bell up to speed in time for opening day.
Go BIG in the draft; D-Line options seem to be the most plentiful. By having this major adversity addressed so quickly, the Birds seem ready to make a positive statement in the Draft.
Go Eagle!— Laughingaloud123 - Bell is young and under contract for 5 years. If he plays well this season what's so crazy about the idea to trade Peters considering Peters will be 31 and coming off a major injury and costing maybe 8 or 9 million against the cap?— soulman386
- — soulman386 "What's the problem with trading him?" And you're rational is that he's 31 years old - so the fact that he was only credited with allowing ONE SACK all of last season, didn't enter into your reasoning. Or the fact that our quarterback has spent the last two seasons missing games in large part because he's been pummeled in the back field. So that 'maybe' you'd like to have the best OT (and under contract) to be guarding your franchise QB. No -- in your world a player is only good if his age tells us he's good.
Don't spend too much time at the water cooler Bud - a younger cashier may just snag your job!— Laughingaloud123 
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