Eagles Keep Making Mistakes Along the Offensive Line

On Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line got quite the shake-up.

Todd Herremans has been bumped out to right tackle, and free agent acquisition Evan Mathis will step in at left guard.

In addition to rookie Danny Watkins being handed the job at right guard and rookie center Jason Kelce inexplicably winning the job at center, the Eagles offensive line looks completely different than it did a year ago.

On the surface, a change along the offensive line is a good thing, but it’s possible the line has actually gotten worse since last season.

Herremans is best suited at tackle as his strength is in pass protection. I’ve never been a fan of Herremans, however, and believe he’s the most overrated player on the team.

He is constantly standing too tall, and any defensive lineman with a little bit of strength can get into his chest and push him backwards. This particular shortcoming was heavily exploited at guard, and I expect to see a few times where Herremans is simply bull-rushed into Michael Vick’s face.

Mathis has been praised as a great under-the-radar pickup, but he’s been less than impressive during the preseason. He’s shown flashes, but he’s also had stretches where he looked confused. He doesn’t seem great at identifying a blitz, and I’ve caught him lunging at his guys in pass protection a few times.

Then there’s Kelce, whose promotion to the starting lineup is without a doubt the biggest mistake the Eagles have made thus far.

And I don’t mean only along the offensive line, but in general. Even worse than not signing a starting linebacker is the decision to play Kelce over Jamaal Jackson.

Or even over Mike McGlynn.

Jackson has shown in the past he is not only one of the smartest players on the field, but is certainly not lacking in physical skill, either. The knock on him this year has been that he does not fit the Howard Mudd style of lineman. Mudd likes smaller, more athletic guys like Kelce, not a guy with a gut that covers his belt like Jackson.

But Jackson has never had an issue getting out in front of the screen. In fact, Jackson was the starter while Brian Westbrook was earning a living running the screen, so to say Jackson isn’t athletic enough for what the Eagles want to do is not only wrong, it’s stupid.

Let’s even forget for a second that Jackson has shown he without a doubt can start and be everything the Eagles want. Kelce has shown that he is not ready to do everything that’s asked of the Eagles center.

The entire line was confused against the Cleveland Browns. It’s up to the center to make all the line calls, recognize blitzes, and get everyone in position. With Jackson, and even McGlynn last year, there was a ton of finger-pointing and calls being made right up until the snap. With Kelce, however, there was almost nothing. Almost no calls were being made, and when they were, they were usually incorrect and had Vick getting pummeled all night long.

Watkins is the starter at right guard for better or for worse, and with his limited football experience will need a little direction. Kelce obviously could not give that to him.

Then there’s the physical side of it.

Watkins, for some reason unbeknownst to me, caught the blame for Phil Taylor’s early hit on Vick that caused the fumble. In reality, it was Kelce who was supposed to step down and block Taylor as Watkins and King Dunlap pulled to the left side.

Kelce got flat-out bullied by Taylor and the result was devastating, or would have been had the defense not forced the field goal attempt and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie not blocked it.

What I’m saying, in no uncertain terms, is Kelce is the team’s third-best option at center.

As it stands right now, the only guy I have any confidence in is Jason Peters at left tackle. Herremans could actually be a pretty decent right tackle, but there’s no way of knowing that as he likely won’t even play in the fourth and final preseason game.

Winston Justice will take over the spot when he’s healthy, but with a rumored set-back, who knows when that will be? When Justice returns, the line will look more like normal, but will still be in disarray because Kelce will be the guy in the center and not Jackson.

Were it up to me, the line would look like this (before Justice’s return):

Peters at left tackle, Reggie Wells at left guard, Jackson at center, Watkins at right guard, and Herremans at right tackle.

Once Justice returns, Wells would get booted out of the starting lineup and Herremans would head back inside. But even that might not happen if Wells is playing well.

I’ve gone on record as saying I think Wells is one hell of a football player, but for some reason this team refuses to see it. Then again, this team also believed Nick Cole had any business in the starting lineup.

Unless Kelce makes incredible strides very early, this season could get ugly. Vick cannot have pressure in his face or, like any quarterback, he will start to press and could easily revert to Atlanta Vick. If that happens, this season will go to hell in a hand basket and the NFL’s “Dream Team” won’t even have the success of the NBA’s team of destiny.