Staff
The Philadelphia Eagles finished 7-9 last year with rookie quarterback Carson Wentz leading the team. Despite the losing record, the fans know the future is looking bright, which is why they are excited about the online betting odds for the Eagles this season. The most important thing for the Eagles going into the season is protecting their young quarterback, which starts with the play of their offensive linemen.
Last season, the Eagles’ offensive line played very well, and the team was contemplating keeping the entire line together for this season. However, the play of Isaac Seumalo convinced the team to make a change this year.
In July, Philadelphia traded Allen Barbre to the Denver Broncos and promoted Seumalo to their starting left guard position, making him the only player that didn’t start last year on their offensive line. Now that he has been moved into the starting lineup, the 24-year-old has to make the transition and make sure the production of the line doesn’t dip this season.
After four weeks of practice, Jeff Stoutland, Philadelphia’s offensive line coach, is pleased with the way Seumalo has handled the transition.
According to Stoutland, Seumalo hasn’t changed his practice or mentality since he got promoted to starter. Stoutland added that Seumalo was a great player to coach, and his intelligence as well as sturdiness are one of the reasons Stoutland thinks he will be successful.
Seumalo, who is the son of an offensive line coach, played four different o-line positions when he was at Oregon State, and had a reputation for being a student of the game. Last year, Seumalo suffered a pectoral injury that cost him a chance to compete for a starting offensive line position as a rookie. He spent the season filling in at three different positions and adjusting to the NFL life.
Even though he has been named a starter, Seumalo still spends countless hours watching game film in preparation for the season. Stoutland said despite being pleased with what he has seen from the second year player. Seumalo still needs to clean up his miscues so they don’t happen on Sundays when the games have meaning.
Stoutland believes Seumalo has a unique ability to make adjustments and has already witnessed him doing so since training camp started. According to the coach, Seumalo struggled at the start of training camp, but he used a day off to review his performance.
At the next practice, Stoutland noticed that Seumalo made a few tweaks to his footwork and hand placement and quickly figured things out.
Despite his improvement, the Eagles offensive line struggled in the first two preseason games. But in fairness to the offensive line, the team didn’t have all their starters available for both games, and failed to provide running lanes for their backs on a consistent basis.
The inconsistency in the offensive line in the first two games also allowed opponents to put pressure on Wentz, who has been playing limited minutes in the preseason.
Stoutland said he isn’t too concerned about the performance of the offensive line because they haven’t been game planning and have just been patching things up. He added that he expects the line to play better as they approach the start of the regular season.