Making sense of the Eagles' O-line shakeup
When the Eagles took the field in January to face the Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, their offensive line looked like this: Jason Peters (LT), Todd Herremans (LG), Mike McGlynn (C), Nick Cole (RG) and Winston Justice (LT).
Making sense of the Eagles' O-line shakeup
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
When the Eagles took the field in January to face the Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, their offensive line looked like this: Jason Peters (LT), Todd Herremans (LG), Mike McGlynn (C), Nick Cole (RG) and Winston Justice (LT).
When the 2011 Eagles take the field in two weeks against the Rams, there's a good chance that the only player lining up in the same place will be Peters.
That's because the coaching staff today made the move fans have been asking about for weeks, sliding Herremans over to right tackle (more on that move from Eagletarian and Birds' Eye View).
So where does the most recent shakeup leave Michael Vick's protection now that the third preseason game is in the books? Let's go position-by-position:
Left tackle: It might not seem like the moves affect Peters, but they do. Peters started 14 games last season (including the playoffs), and played at a Pro Bowl level. His left guard was Herremans. The pair provided a boost to the Eagles' run game. LeSean McCoy averaged 5.8 yards per carry to the left side, compared to 4.4 to the right. Peters and Herremans were good in pass protection too. Now Peters will have to get used to playing alongside Mathis. It shouldn't be the most difficult thing in the world, but with teams likely to focus on confusing Vick at the line of scrimmage, communication and chemsitry will be important.
Left guard: I talked to Mathis during practice last week and asked him about playing right tackle. He said he thought he was capable of succeeding there, but confirmed that most of his practice reps were coming at guard. And that's where he'll play going forward. Mathis has been active for 58 career games in six NFL seasons, having started 22 of them. But he hasn't been a full-time starter since 2006 when he was with the Panthers. In 2009, he started seven games and became a favorite of the crew over at Pro Football Focus. In the preseason, Mathis has played well - both at guard and at tackle. He'll turn 30 in November and signed with the Eagles for this very opportunity. Now he gets the chance to make the most of it.
Center: I wrote about Jason Kelce and Jamaal Jackson at length in Man Up today. But to recap, Jackson has played better in the preseason. He has looked healthy and effective and brings 72 career starts to the table. Kelce has shown flashes, and it's easy to realize what the Eagles see in him. But he had several issues Thursday night, which you'd expect from a rookie. The situation is fluid, but at this point, it looks like the coaches are going to give Kelce every shot to win the job. As I've mentioned, I don't see the harm in starting the season with Jackson and then moving to Kelce if necessary, but that doesn't seem to be how the Eagles feel.
Right guard: I offered several thoughts on Danny Watkins in Man Up also. He had a bad game Thursday night, but isn't going anywhere. It should help Watkins to some extent to play next to an experienced lineman in Herremans. It might help him even more to play in between two veterans in Herremans and Jackson. At some point this season, I think Watkins will become a very good player. The question is whether that will happen in the first month of the season or the last month of the season. And Watkins needs to make sure his first-year struggles don't get Vick killed.
Right tackle: I'm sure the Eagles would have preferred keeping Herremans at guard, for the reasons I described above. But with the Ryan Harris injury and so much uncertainty surrounding Winston Justice's future, this was a move they felt they had to make. We know Herremans is a good offensive lineman, probably the Eagles' second-best blocker behind Peters. But we don't know what level he will play at as a tackle. King Dunlap was alright, but it's clear the coaching staff didn't trust him to be a full-time starter. If they did, they wouldn't have signed Harris or Reggie Wells. And they obviously wouldn't have made the Herremans switch. We'll see how long it takes for him to again get used to playing tackle, but the Herremans move makes sense, and he seems like their best option there at this point.
OTHER THOUGHTS
* Some have asked if Jackson can play guard. While Andy Reid didn't rule it out earlier this week, it's hard to believe he'd provide a better option than Mathis. All 72 of Jackson's career starts have come at center.
* The Eagles' roster decisions along the offensive line became more interesting with these moves also. Here are all the guys currently on the roster: Dunlap, Herremans, Harris, Austin Howard, Jackson, Spencer Johnson, Kelce, Mathis, Mike McGlynn, Peters, Dallas Reynolds, A.Q. Shipley, Fenuki Tupou, Julian Vandervelde, Watkins, Winston Justice and Reggie Wells.
The locks? Herremans, Kelce, Mathis, Peters, Watkins.
The guys who are likely gone? Harris, Johnson, McGlynn, Reynolds, Shipley and Tupou.
That leaves Justice, Dunlap, Howard, Jackson, Vandervelde and Wells. At tackle, behind Herremans and Peters, the Eagles' options are Dunlap, Howard, Justice and Wells. Dunlap has played good enough to warrant a backup spot. Howard will likely be cut. Justice could start the season on PUP, and that could potentially open up a spot for Wells, who played relatively well Thursday night.
The Herremans move hurts interior depth. As the roster currently stands, if Watkins or Mathis were to get injured, Jackson or Vandervelde would have to step in.
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JJacks will start the season at center. it's preseason for blessed mercy, and the birds are just trying to see how good and how quickly they can get Kelce. Andy LOVES Jamaal.— DHowardisdaman- I really like this move. Mathis is a solid LG and Herremans is at his natural position he played in college. It will help Watkins out alot that he has a veteran next to him to help him out. I don't understand why they don't let Jamaal Jackson play out the final year of his contract and let Kelce take over next year after learning and watching 1 year. Jackson is a proven veteran and can make line calls at the line of scrimmage.— briandawkins20
- The new system has the QB calling the protection scheme not the center. That said, I would have preferred making the switch after a couple games tho'. The shortened offseason isn't good for rookies, especially when you have a proven solid veteran. The rest of the line seems decent.
- Agree with DH--Iggles are kings of riding one way in the preseason to see where things are then starting differently in the regular season. But Kelce has two more weeks to win the job.— thefadd
- gotta have faith in howard mudd - kelce, mathis and watkins are all his types of players. plus, we've clamored for herrimans at RT for a few years now. I'd like to see this new line come together and gel— dpcoz
- @dpcox....you have said it all....only thing is that Stefen Wisniewski would have really looked good in this system....Kelce will work out, he has the Jeff Saturday beard and makeup.— bearsfriend
- @dpcox....you have said it all....only thing is that Stefen Wisniewski would have really looked good in this system....Kelce will work out, he has the Jeff Saturday beard and makeup.— bearsfriend
- Ad Hoc line + slow release QB = Kafka starting by October— dragoon6
- You believe Harris is good as gone? Cut? Or is he headed to the IR? I haven't heard exactly how much time he's expected to miss.— phillychaos
Comment removed.- The upside for Kelce to develop is greater than anything that Jamal Jackson is capable of delivering. This is an obvious move. After allowing 49 sacks last year, replacing the left side is a no brain decision. Jamal Jackson, Winston Justice nor Dunlap just will not get the job done. Jackson was hurt last year, but the year before the Eagles line wasn't much to write home about. Jamal may be a nice guy, but he stinks as a football player.— Dexter
- Dexter: Jamal Jackson plays center, genius.— p-diddy
- Not sure if Jackson ends up starting - Kelce didn't look good early, but that was also compunded by Watkins not looking good early. You can't have two interior lineman having problems at the same time, or you have jailbreaks from the defense line and linebackers.
But Kelce looked very good when pulling out for screens and outside runs, and that's something Jackson simply can't do. Jackson is a fairly immobile interior lineman, and limits the dimension of the Eagles offense when at center.
Now I'm not saying that Jackson shouldn't be on the team, he's a great second option at center with all of his experience.
If Herremans moving to RT can help Watkins improve his play, that will help out Kelce. And Mathis might be new to the offense, but he's still a veteran upon which Kelce can rely for some assistance.
I think having someone solid at RT helps that side of the line immensely over having Dunlap - whose almost like having a rookie - next to two rookies.— Watching and Waiting 
I wonder if Vick getting knocked out for the season in the first game by some LB Watkins was supposed to block will shed some light on the fact that they are starting him because he only has so many years as a 26 year old rookie and the Eagles don't want to look stupid for picking him in a lock out season with 0 OTA's etc? Admit you were wrong and get a Vet in there until Watkins is ready if you really want to win now.- But Reid knows offensive lineman. Just ask him. — coloradoeagle
- Herremans has had a lot of injuries, even though he's played through most of them. Out at RT, if he's not 100%, he'll get exposed real quick.— armchairGM
- If the Eagles cut Jamaal Jackson and Mike McGlynn as a lot of writers are suggesting, who will be our backup C behind Kelce?— billro33
- Comment removed.
- Jamaal Jackson is a good quality NFL starter when he's healthy, just not in Mudd's system. He wants that quick, athletic lineman, and players who can't play that style won't start. Sheil says: "The guys who are likely gone? Harris, Johnson, McGlynn, Reynolds, Shipley and Tupou"- I'd add Justice to that list. I think he's making $3.5 mil this season, I could be wrong on that one. I still don't understand why the Eagles signed Nnamdi to all that money after they already got DRC. Don't get me wrong, Nnamdi is a great player, but with that same money they could have had the best right tackle that was on the market, Tyson Clabo and still had change left over to sign a veteran linebacker. Mike Vick wouldn't have had to spend the last week in a tub nursing head-to-toe bruises. Maybe Clabo wasn't interested in Philly, who knows? It's like it's winter, it's freezing out and you need clothes, you go into a store and buy a $500 watch, no coat, no shoes and no long johns. It doesn't make sense. The rest of the winter you walk around blue, shivering and holding out your wrist for anyone who'll look saying: "Look at my fancy watch!" Nnamdi is our fancy watch. Mike Vick is the one hanging out there naked, getting pounded.— cletisvandam
- This is black philly fans don't like the white player Watkins, making the team, phase two. Phase three is Matthews and....oh you get it.— marioP
- I love having Vick as QB but I'm not sure he needs the extra responsibility for calling the protection schemes. It seems like he has enough on his plate already.
If our OLine doesn't gel we are going to need more QBs on the roster. I hope I'm wrong but it seems like "adequate" is all we can hope the OLine gels into.
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