Les Bowen wrote a good article on the Eagles O-line. Tuesday was the first time anyone had gotten a loot at the projected starters playing together (Peters-Mathis-Kelce-Herremans-Johnson). As Mathis put it, “the band was back together”.
One real interesting point to consider is that the Eagles starting OL never played or practiced together last year. Jason Peters got hurt before the draft. That meant you had King Dunlap and Demetress Bell fighting for the LT spot in the OTAs, minicamps and Training Camp.
In the preseason you had:
Week 1 – Bell – Mathis – Kelce – Watkins – Herremans
Week 2 – Dunlap – same as above
Week 3 – This game was so close to Wk 2 that Reid sat most of the starters. Dunlap and Bell split time at LT.
Week 4 – The PS finale is always backups.
That was a lot of shuffling and little continuity for the OL. Peters being healthy means the 2013 group is off to a much better start. Let’s hope the results are much better as well.
One big thing that will help is that now the Eagles have backups in Kelly, Watkins, and Reynolds who have all started 10 or more NFL games. Lane Johnson is the only starter who is operating with no experience. To help make up for that, he’s got great athletic ability.
Bowen is awful.