Adrian Fedkiw
Move over Dallas, the best offensive line in the NFL now resides in Philadelphia.
It’s one thing to have a committee of running backs, it’s another to have an offensive line, mobile, smart and strong enough to be able to block all of the concepts needed for those respective backs. They pull, twist and get people to the second level more efficiently than any line in the league.
The Eagles did all this without the services of Jason Peters for more than half the season too. The nine-time Pro Bowler tore both his ACL and MCL in his left knee during the Eagles’ 34-24 win over Washington in Week 7. Halapoulivaati Vaitai filled in admirably, allowing five sacks the rest of the way. He and Isaac Seumalo (6) were the only linemen to surrender more than one sack on the year.
Big V certainly improved as the season went along and his best performance came in the NFC Championship Game when he shut down feared pass rusher Everson Griffen, who didn’t record a sack and only had two pressures. Despite that performance, however, I’m still not ready to anoint Vaitai the future left tackle. Besides Griffen, most of the talented edge rushers actually primarily squared off with Lane Johnson. Johnson clashed with Khalil Mack, Von Miller, Justin Houston, Joey Bosa, Michael Bennett, DeMarcus Lawrence Ryan Kerrigan twice and Jason Pierre-Paul twice. Doug Pederson talked about Big V’s development during OTAs in June.
I think, in V’s case is that he’s played and he’s played a lot of games his first two years, and he’s a starter. He’s a starting-caliber tackle. Obviously, he’s proven it on both sides. Great to have, great situation to have depth there. You can plug him in on both sides, get him the proper work, and he’s proven to handle it. He’s young, he understands his role, and we’re excited that he’s here.
While I’d like to see more proof from Big V, no more proof is needed for Johnson. He’s the best right tackle in football and one of the best tackles in the league period. Pederson was asked if Johnson would ever make the move to left tackle down the line and said that the decision would be made when that time comes.
It’s hard to say. You look at him, you look at Big V [T Halapoulivaati Vaitai], what Big V has done his first two years, [and] what Big V did last year for Jason [Peters] over on the left side, helped us win a championship over there. Who knows, really, quite honestly. I feel like we’ve kind of got a really good situation there. If and when that decision comes down the road, year two, [year] three, who knows, the thing is you make that decision [and] you’ve got to stick with it. I don’t think you go back and forth with it if you do make that decision. But right now, just love the offensive line, where they’re at with the addition of Jason Peters coming back and Big V going into year three. It gives us a lot of depth there.
As for 2018, Peters will be the starter at left tackle. Pederson knew last season that Peters wouldn’t hang up the cleats following his knee injury.
I just know Jason. I know his work ethic. He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s an attention-to-detail guy, and it’s just important to him. Football is important. He’s the type of player that doesn’t want to go out through an injury. He wants to come back and prove that he’s stronger and better than ever, and he’s done that this off-season, and of course during and since his surgery. He’s one of those players that he can go out on his time.
That he most certainly can, but which Peters will we see? He’s coming off an ACL and MCL injury at 34. Peters played some of his best football last year prior to his setback.
Philly’s impressive trio of Johnson, guard Brandon Brooks and center Jason Kelce are the reason why the line is able to have so many moving parts. Kelce is the one who the Eagles are constantly seeking to pull on the second level, whether he’s out on the boundary on the outside zone and sweep plays or pulling around a guard with a pin-and-pull concept on the inside one runs.
The Eagles don’t double team defensive tackles initially on the inside zone like most teams do, they don’t have to. Brooks is talented enough to block down on his own, allowing Kelce to circle around him on the pull and find his linebacker in the hole. This ploy enables the Eagles to block a linebacker in the hole that would normally have a free shot on the running back. The other thing the Birds like to do is use Johnson’s burst and lateral quickness, regularly bringing him down the line of scrimmage on trap blocks or meeting linebackers in the hole.
As great as the run blocking for the Eagles was, the pass protection was shaky at times. That was during the regular season, though. They surrendered 36 sacks on the year (17th), but Nick Foles was put on the ground just twice in the postseason. With Carson Wentz coming off his ACL injury, the pass protection must limit the amount of shots he takes on the knee.
Stefen Wisniewski was a rock at left guard, taking over for Seumalo and eventually Chance Warmack at the position. Seumalo began the year as the starter, but yielded four sacks in Week 2 against Kansas City. Warmack didn’t fare much better and it was Wiz who steadied the ship.
I’m curious to see what Pederson does with his 13 personnel packages. The Eagles never brought in a traditional blocking tight end and Brent Celek is still out on the street. Will the Birds put the extra lineman on the field more now without that blocking tight end at their disposal?
Philly drafted a pair of linemen in the later rounds, snatching TCU’s Matt Pryor in the sixth round and rugby star Jordan Mailata in the seventh. Mailata’s upside intrigues me and I could see him being a vital piece in that 13 personnel package with time. First he needs to learn how to do the basics, but perhaps by the end of the year or next summer, I believe we’ll see Mailata in there around the goal line. And don’t be surprised if he’s catching touchdowns either.
The Eagles are built for the present and maybe the future along the offensive line. Like I said, move over Dallas!