Philadelphia Eagles: Offensive line and depth will be an issue

Pro Football Focus decided it was a good idea to name the Philadelphia Eagles as the best offensive line in football. This was a mistake for sure.

This shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out; our Birds are skating on thin ice when it comes to keeping our franchise quarterback upright, only keeping eight linemen on the 53 man roster. From left to right we have Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Jason Kelce, Brandon Brooks, and Lane Johnson. Our game day backups are Stefen Wisniewski and Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Chance Warmack will probably be inactive come game days.

On paper, the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line isn’t bad. Lane Johnson is due to make his first Pro Bowl if he can play a full season, Brandon Brooks is a mauler at right guard, and Jason Kelce had a good second half of the season last year (he did make the Pro Bowl, after all).

Aside from that, the left side of the line is questionable. Isaac Seumalo, a 2016 third round draft pick, is far from a lock as a top guard. I know, Seumalo is still very young with only five starts under his belt, but he still looks outmatched at times. His inexperience can be glaring at times. I expect him to get better as the season progresses, but for now, he is a bit of a liability on the left side.

This brings me to the Captain, the Body Guard, none other than your starting left tackle since 2009, Mr. Jason Peters. Jason Peters is a nine time Pro Bowler. He’s the best offensive lineman the Eagles have had in recent memory and arguably an all-time great. Don’t think I’m disrespecting the man because I’m not. Peters is getting up there in age, currently 35 years old. He’s taken a beating over the course of his 14-season-long career. It seems that Peters can’t finish a game without taking a few snaps off here and there to nurse small injuries. You saw what happened on Sunday against the Redskins: he came out of the game and didn’t return. This left Big V to take over at left tackle next to fellow second-year guard Isaac Seumalo. The fact that we’re one injury away from having to see Wentz’s blind side being protected by two players with less than ten starts between the two is terrifying.

This isn’t to say that Big V and Isaac Seumalo can’t grow into serviceable linemen. I think they both have the potential to be that at the minimum. But, when the Philadelphia Eagles are very much in contention to win the division I would like to see the offensive line perform at their maximum ability. That won’t happen if we lose one member of the offensive line, which has happened the last two seasons.

Pro Football Focus put the Philadelphia Eagles in a tough position by declaring them the best offensive line in football. It’s a lot to live up to when there is an aging tackle who is injury prone, a guard who has five starts under his belt, a center who has yet to put together a complete season, a guard who took a game off with mental problems (not a knock on mental illness, Brooks is a stronger man than I), and a tackle who is one failed PED test away from serving a two year suspension.

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While the unit as a whole has all the potential in the world to be one of the top lines in football, as it stands in week two of the 2017 season, the Philadelphia Eagles have a mediocre line with questionable depth.The Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday at 1 o’clock.

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