Philadelphia Eagles: Issac Seumalo’s return to action is much needed

The Philadelphia Eagles have seriously missed their starting LG.

Often the forgotten name on the offensive line, the absence of one Issac Seumalo has turned into a huge deal this season. The left guard went down early against the Rams in Week 2, and the Philadelphia Eagles O-Line has simply never recovered since.

They’ve rotated in all sorts of guys; experimenting with the likes of Sua Opeta, Matt Pryor, Nate Herbig, and even Jamon Brown (who was like REALLY BAD). Ultimately speaking, none of these names could even come to close to replicating who Seumalo is as a player, and the results speak for themselves. Carson Wentz has been the most sacked and the most hit quarterback this season, at least contributing to the struggles he’s experienced here in 2020.

When it was announced that Brandon Brooks would be missing the regular season with an Achilles injury, pressure immediately transferred over to Seumalo to hold down at least one of the guard spots. The Eagles entered the season fully understanding that both Jason Peters and Lane Johnson were not 100% healthy, so they were really counting on Seumalo (and Jason Kelce) to hold down the fort.

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While pass protection was still shaky Week 1 with Seumalo in at LG, it deteriorated to complete nothingness once the 6-4 guard went down too. Like previously mentioned, the team threw all sorts of guys at LG, failing to even get adequate production at the position.

Seumalo was activated this week, and projects to play this Sunday against the Browns. The Philadelphia Eagles are catching a break with Myles Garrett reportedly out due to a positive COVID-19 test, but they’ll still have to be on their best performance regardless.

Keeping Wentz standing in the pocket is priority #1, both for the short-term and longterm success of this football team, and that starts with the offensive line providing average pass protection.

Seumalo’s return ultimately doesn’t solve all of their problems, as Peters and Johnson are both still banged up, and guys like Brooks and Andre Dillard remain on the IR, but it’s undoubtedly a step in the right direction.