After the draft, Eagles' future in front of Carson Wentz remains murky | David Murphy

It is difficult to blame the Eagles for their failure to address one of their greatest areas of long-term need in this year's draft. In eschewing this year's crop of offensive linemen, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas were hardly alone.

In the first three rounds, a mere 10 offensive linemen went off the board, the fewest of any draft in the last 20 years and six fewer than any draft since 2009. It doesn't make much sense for a team to insist on drafting a certain position if the best player on its board at that position is a guy who is unlikely to develop into an NFL player.

But none of that makes the Eagles' three- to five-year outlook on the offensive line any less problematic. Last year showed us just how disruptive the unexpected loss of one of the tackles can be. The culprit was a suspension sustained by the 26-year-old right tackle rather than an injury sustained by the 34-year-old left tackle, but it remains to be seen how long Jason Peters can hold his block against Father Time. If Peters can repeat his 2016 and Lane Johnson can avoid ingesting any banned substances, the Eagles' O-line looks solid for 2017. But the outlook for 2018 and beyond is a bit murkier.

Of the five projected starters on the offensive line, only Johnson and Brandon Brooks are clearly likely to remain with the team beyond this season. Guard Allen Barbre and center Jason Kelce were rumored to be candidates for release this offseason, and newly signed guard Chance Warmack is here only on a one-year deal. The Eagles seem to have 2016 third-rounder Isaac Seumalo penciled into one of the interior spots, whether it's replacing Kelce at center or Barbre or Warmack at guard.

But the current in-house options at tackle are a couple of second-year players who have yet to establish themselves as even adequate NFL players: fifth-rounder Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who struggled mightily last season, and undrafted free agent Dillon Gordon, a blocking tight end at LSU whose floor is as low as his ceiling is high.

Since drafting Carson Wentz, the Eagles have gone to great lengths to upgrade the skill-position weapons around him, acquiring four wide receivers (Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, Mack Hollins, Dorial Green-Beckham) and two running backs (Donnel Pumphrey, Wendell Smallwood) via free agency, trades, and the draft. Yet history has shown that a young quarterback's best friends remain the five guys in front of him, and for the third time in the last four drafts, the Eagles did not add a single offensive lineman to their mix. Since taking Johnson with the No. 4 overall pick in 2013, their only picks at the position have been Seumalo and Vaitai in the fifth, both in last year's draft. The last Eagles draft pick to make the Pro Bowl as a guard or tackle was Shawn Andrews. Before him: Tra Thomas.

Quantity does not equal quality, of course. Few teams have thrown as many darts at the offensive line as the Colts in recent years, with six of their 13 total selections coming in the first three rounds. Yet two first, two seconds and two thirds haven't been enough to keep Andrew Luck from getting pummeled weekly. Same goes for the Seahawks, who have seven top-100 selections on the offensive line since 2010, but only three who've started more than one NFL season.

Coming off a rookie season in which Wentz suffered a series of cost-of-doing-business dings that included broken ribs, a blow to the head, and elbow soreness, the Eagles have some work to do. The Colts, for one, have spent plenty of resources on the wide-receiver position over the last five years, but Luck might trade them all for a little more time to throw.