Eagles' offensive line could see some shuffling

WELL, THE Eagles' offensive line was a huge problem in 2015, for the second year in a row, but there's a new regime, and it has had all offseason to get things straightened out. So fans are looking forward to seeing the team open the 2016 schedule against the Browns on Sept. 11 with a group of starters that could include, let's see here . . .

Matt Tobin?

Dennis Kelly?

Or Andrew Gardner?

What the actual (heck)?

We don't know whether any of that uninspiring but familiar triumvirate will end up starting, but chances sure look good that at least one of them will, maybe more.

Thursday night, when the Eagles open their preseason against the visiting Tampa Bay Bucs, Tobin will be the left tackle in place of Jason Peters, who has a quadriceps strain, the sort of thing that has happened to Peters a lot the past couple of years. He is 34 years old.

The Eagles are awaiting word on whether Peters' designated long-term successor, right tackle Lane Johnson, will be suspended 10 games for a second PED violation. (There is no indication we're close to an announcement on that.) If Johnson, scheduled to start Thursday night, is suspended, that presumably would leave Kelly starting at right tackle, assuming offensive-line coach Jeff Stoutland doesn't decide to shuffle, say, new starting right guard Brandon Brooks outside.

One of the peculiarities of the Johnson situation's timing is that it came to light Tuesday, after Eagles coach Doug Pederson spoke and during a period when no coaches or players would be available to be interviewed until after the game ends Thursday night.

Before the Johnson news broke, Tobin and Stoutland talked about how Tobin's struggles at right guard last season shouldn't make fans conclude that he can't play left tackle. While it's unlikely Tobin, 26, can play left tackle at Peters' All-Pro level, he is better on the left side, and he is much more of a tackle than a guard - quick and angular, at 6-6, 290, not a mauler.

"You can see that with the things we're asking him to do, he has a better skill set to be successful at that position," Stoutland said of Tobin. "His feet are extremely quick. He's able to block an edge rusher."

"I love it. It's my most favorite spot. That's probably where I've played most" over the years, Tobin said of stepping in for Peters. "Going against Connor (Barwin), going against Vinny (Curry), B.G. (Brandon Graham) and those guys, it's helped me work on my technique . . . I'm ready to go."

Tobin isn't offended that the No. 1 offseason priority on the o-line was replacing him at right guard with Brooks, at five years and $40 million.

"They wanted me to play right guard, so I went in and did the best I could," said Tobin, who started 13 games there last season after Gardner was injured. "I'm not the most comfortable over there, but if they want me to do it, I'm going to do my best at it, whether I go to right guard or right tackle or wherever."

Tobin knows that while he might be more comfortable at left tackle, he will be judged by a very high standard.

"Absolutely. The best player I've ever seen do it," Tobin said of Peters. "I've learned a ton from him in the last four years. Footwork. Getting off the ball on the snap, that's key. If you guys notice, J.P.'s always off on the ball. He's got very quick feet, then hands under (the defender's hands)."

Even before the Johnson news, it was possible to be skeptical of a starting group that added only Brooks to the mix. (Third-round rookie guard Isaac Seumalo is a long way from taking a starting job as the preseason begins.) But Stoutland and his players think a new offense, which allows for much more than Chip Kelly's predictable zone-blocking off a single cadence, also will spur better results.

"We got gap schemes, we got man schemes, we got zone blocking, we got it all now," Tobin said. "Basically, it was one cadence (under Kelly) and go as fast as you can."

Stoutland agreed that the Eagles will be better able to adapt to what defenses are doing. He also said he "absolutely" thinks Peters can get through the season at a high level.

The varying cadence thing has been a problem in camp, with linemen false-starting. It'll be interesting to see whether that happens against the Bucs.

"The last three years, a lot of us haven't had to deal with that," Tobin noted. "We were going on the first sound."

Gardner, 30, started the first three games at right guard last year, but went down for the season with a right foot injury. He was limited in the spring, which might be why he's behind Tobin in the pecking order now. Gardner also is practicing at left tackle.

"Whatever I play the most, that's where I feel the best. So right now, left tackle is my best position," Gardner said this week.

Kelly, 26, has started 15 games over four Eagles seasons since being drafted in the fifth round in 2012. He got two starts at right tackle last season and has been Johnson's top backup in camp. We didn't talk to him for this story because it was going to be about the situation behind Peters at left tackle. There was no reason to talk to a right tackle. Now there is, as Kelly surely will discover after Thursday's game.

Asked Monday about whether he was worried about his standing on the depth chart, Gardner said something prescient about the unpredictable way things go for offensive lines.

"It's a constant wave of new players and old players getting pushed out and fighting injury and attrition and all that kind of stuff," he said. "I've gotta prove myself to whatever coach is here, every single year."

Johnson, the fourth player taken in the 2012 draft, said last week that this is the deepest group of o-linemen he has been a part of; at the time, it didn't seem a terribly important observation, but now it might be.

Stoutland, asked about his unit's depth, said: "I like it. I like the players who are here. I think they're working hard. I think they're trying to do exactly what we're teaching them to do from a technique standpoint. And the best part is, they're football guys. They're very accountable to each other."

@LesBowen

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