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2010 Offensive Line Analysis - Philadelphia Eagles

2010 Projected Starters:
Left Tackle: Jason Peters
Left Guard: Todd Herremans
Center: Nick Cole / Jamaal Jackson
Right Guard: Stacy Andrews / Nick Cole
Right Tackle: Winston Justice

2009 Injuries:
T Jason Peters: Weeks 10
G Todd Herremans: Weeks 1-6
C Jamaal Jackson: Week 17

2009 Statistics:

Overview:
The Philadelphia Eagles qualified for the postseason for the second straight year in 2009 but most impressively, for the eighth time in ten years with Donovan McNabb as their starting quarterback. In 2010, they will begin a new era with Kevin Kolb under center and, based on the way he played last year, things should be just as good if not better than with McNabb. The most important thing is that Kolb will need to be better than McNabb was in the playoffs (9-7) and he will also need to stay healthy.

Jason Peters will return as the starting left tackle after the Eagles acquired him from the Bills last off-season. Peters was selected to his third straight Pro Bowl but this time it was much more deserved than in 2008. The 6’4” and 340 lbs tackle allowed six sacks in 15 starts but was much better in pass protection than those numbers indicate. One concern with Peters is that he took ten penalties in 2009 and there is no doubt that he will need to cut down on that number in 2010. To his defense, Peters had to deal with injuries to his knee and ankle for most of the year as well as to his shoulder and head late in the year. Despite all the criticism, we believe that Peters had a pretty good year in 2009 and is an above average tackle, especially in pass protection. Starting opposite of him for the second consecutive year will be Winston Justice. Justice was selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft but saw very little playing time until last year when he started all 16 games. He had been disappointing in limited action in his first three NFL seasons, especially at left tackle, but he took advantage of his opportunity when the starting job at right tackle opened up. The 6’6” and 320 lbs tackle somewhat struggled in run blocking but he was above average in pass protection and should be a pretty good starter for the Eagles in years to come. A seventh round pick in 2008, King Dunlap, adds depth at tackle but he struggled in replacement of Peters last year.

Todd Herremans will be the starting left guard for the Eagles for a fifth consecutive season. He had a very difficult season in 2007 mainly due to a knee injury that bothered him throughout the year. Herremans however came back strong in 2008 and had an excellent season, especially in pass protection with only one sack allowed, but once again, had injury problems in 2009. Despite that, Herremans had an excellent season, especially as a run blocker, and he even played at left tackle when Peters was hurt. Overall, he is an above average guard who has the ability to play left tackle and will continue to have success for a number of years, as long as he can stay healthy. Stacy Andrews will enter the season as the starting right guard in place of Nick Cole who will move to center to replace the injured Jamaal Jackson. Andrews started two games last year at right guard but was quite disappointing, especially in pass protection. Andrews started 29 games in 2007 and 2008 with the Bengals and is definitely capable of being a starter in the NFL but he didn’t show it last year. The top backup at guard is the 6’3” and 360 lbs Max Jean-Gilles who started 15 games in the past two seasons. Jean-Gilles has also been somewhat disappointing since being drafted in the fourth round in 2006, in part because of his struggles with his weight.

Jamaal Jackson was probably amongst the five best centers in the NFL in the last two years but he suffered a knee injury late last year and is likely to miss a major portion of the 2010 season. Last year’s starting right guard, Nick Cole, will move to center in his second season as a full-time starter. The versatile 6’0” and 350 lbs lineman looked okay in his final three games at center in 2009 but he was much more comfortable at guard. Cole should be better than he was last year with a full off-season to practice at his new position but he will likely be a below average starter in 2010.

2010 Outlook:
The Philadelphia Eagles had an average offensive line in 2009 but things could have been much better if we consider that the running game averaged 4.5 yards per carry and the line allowed 17 sacks in the eight games that the group of Peters, Herremans, Jackson, Cole and Justice played together. That group of five would probably give the Eagles one of the six or seven best offensive lines in the NFL but the injury to Jackson will hurt them tremendously. Because of the injury to Jackson, they are basically forced to replace a Pro Bowl caliber lineman with a below average one (Andrews) and to move another one (Cole) to an unnatural position. This injury also leaves Jean-Gilles as the only backup capable of stepping in but the versatility of Herremans makes this almost a non-issue. Overall, we expect this line to be slightly worse than last year in both pass protection and run blocking at the beginning of the year but they should be slightly better than last year in both categories when Jackson returns.

See all of our 2010 Offensive Line Analysis Articles