'Big V' excited about starting his first game for Eagles

HERE'S HOW defensive end Brandon Graham, who has gone up against Halapoulivaati Vaitai in practice most of the season, knows Vaitai is ready to start at right tackle Sunday at Washington. It will be the NFL debut for the Eagles' fifth-round rookie.

Graham said that before he starts his pass rush on Vaitai, "I have to think."

"When you have to think on a guy, that's when you know, 'All right. I respect him, a lot.' He is not a pushover. He is definitely going to compete.

"Working together with the first team (this week), the communication is going to be real good, because I'm sure he knows everything he's supposed to do. I think he's athletic. I think he can make any block, and he's not afraid to take risks out there . . . He's not scared to get in your face and go at it . . . He's strong. You can't bull-rush him."

Graham said he wasn't surprised that Vaitai is the coaches' choice to replace Lane Johnson, whose 10-game NFL drug test suspension began this week, when his appeal was turned down.

"He's the next best thing, right there," Graham said. "That boy's big (6-6, 315) . . . He's coachable. They call him 'The quiet one.' He's quiet, but he's working."

Graham's opinion was not quite unanimous. Before offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland told head coach Doug Pederson he thought Vaitai had progressed well enough to do the job, the announced plan was to move left guard Allen Barbre to right tackle and replace Barbre with veteran Stefen Wisniewski, something the team worked on in the preseason. Wisniewski, signed as a free agent last spring, has not been all that thrilled to be a backup after starting his first 77 NFL games, in Oakland and Jacksonville. He definitely is not thrilled now to be passed over as first off the bench.

"Not until (Tuesday)" did Stoutland deliver the news, Wisniewski said. "They want to try things this way, and we'll see how it goes."

Obviously disappointing, Wiz, but there's logic to changing only one spot instead of two, right?

"There's kinda different ways of looking at it," Wisniewski said. "Some people want to get their best five guys in there. Other guys would rather make just one switch than two switches."

Had Johnson been suspended for the opener, Wisniewski would have gotten his wish; the rookie was far too raw then, but "he's worked extremely hard," Pederson said. Pederson was asked Wednesday whether this solution was more about not moving Barbre - who has played well at left guard - or about Vaitai deserving to start.

"Honestly, it's both of those situations," Pederson said. "Where 'Big V' is right now in his progression of the offense, and where he is as an athlete, we felt very comfortable with him going over there and not moving Allen . . . We didn't want to disrupt two positions."

Pederson affirmed the organization's long-term plan - when Jason Peters, 34, is no longer the pillar at left tackle, Johnson is slated to move there and Vaitai to start at right tackle. As we saw with what happened at quarterback, this staff is inclined to look at what's best in the long run, whenever possible.

Vaitai's parents are Tongan, though he was born and raised in Texas, and played at TCU. His first name is pronounced "Halla-pooli-vie-tie." He was named after his father's second cousin, he said.

Wednesday was his first practice with the starting o-line.

"I've just got to set back, keep the defender in front of me, stay low, work my hands . . . I'm excited for this opportunity," he said. "Just calm down. Just focus for four seconds each play. That's what Jason Peters tells me all the time."

Pederson noted that if Vaitai struggles, they can help him with a running back or a tight end, but he said they weren't going into the game with that built into their scheme. Vaitai said he didn't plan to need help.

"I'm a big boy," he said. "I'm going to do everything to protect Carson (Wentz) . . . It's a big moment for me. I'm taking a big step. It's my job now, and I've got to keep that job."

Right guard Brandon Brooks will have the biggest adjustment of the other four starters. Johnson, in his fourth season, has been the team's most dominant o-lineman this year.

"He does a lot of good things," Brooks said of Vaitai. "Just go out there and play your heart out, play hard. We all make mistakes, not just young guys."

Center Jason Kelce praised Vaitai's strength and hands. "You see when he run-blocks a lot of times, really good power at the point of attack . . . I think he's progressed each and every week."

Kelce said his advice to young linemen is always "don't overthink," something he has stressed ever since he watched 2011 first-round guard Danny Watkins unravel.

"He had a really bad habit of letting things get into his head," Kelce said of Watkins, who is now a firefighter in Dallas. "Refocus yourself. Do the little techniques that are going to put you in position to be successful, and allow you to play fast."

Doug Pederson said Lane Johnson is going home to Oklahoma, instead of staying in the area during his suspension, as Johnson indicated. He can rehab his hyperextended elbow at the University of Oklahoma, his alma mater. Johnson is allowed contact with head athletic trainer Chris Peduzzi, but isn't allowed in the Eagles' facility . . . Bryan Braman (AC joint), Leodis McKelvin (hamstring) and Fletcher Cox (ankle) were held out of practice, but Pederson said they will play Sunday.

@LesBowen

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