The Other Guards: Allen Barbre, Matt Tobin Must Be Ready

Following a chaotic offseason, many of the questions surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles‘ roster have been been answered. But there’s still one major concern and that’s the current situation with disgruntled Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis. Although he still has two years remaining on his contract, Mathis is unhappy with his current deal in Philadelphia and either wants more money or to be traded.

At 33-years old, it’s unlikely that Mathis will be rewarded with more money. Despite being one of, if not, the best guards in the NFL, he missed half of the 2014 regular season with a sprained MCL and obviously isn’t getting any younger. Mathis has missed all voluntary team workouts this offseason and it remains to be seen if he’ll even show up for mandatory mini-camp starting June 16th. If Mathis fails to show up to mandatory workouts, that’s a huge red flag that his time in Philadelphia may be over.

That being said, Mathis’ eventual replacement needs to be ready. During his absence at OTAs, Allen Barbre has replaced Mathis as the starting left guard and Matt Tobin is starting at right guard. Both players have limited experience at guard in the NFL but they’re likely the team’s best options at this point. Philadelphia failed to sign or draft an offensive linemen this offseason besides a handful of undrafted free agents that will be battling for final roster spots anyway. That leaves Barbre and Tobin as “The Other Guards.”

But what exactly do the both of them bring to the table (…or field)? Barbre is the older of the two and will be 31-years old by the beginning of the upcoming season. The Eagles are very high on Barbre, as they signed him to a three-year contract extension in 2014. Maybe they knew Mathis’ situation was only going to get worse and wanted to secure him as his eventual replacement. Heading into this past season, Barbre was supposed to be the team’s top reserve offensive linemen that would start in right tackle Lane Johnson‘s spot for the first four games of the regular season.

But his 2014 season came to a screeching hault during the Eagles’ week 1 match-up against the Jaguars when he suffered a high ankle sprain that landed him on the injured reserve list. Now that he’s fully healthy, Barbre is the favorite to either replace Mathis at left guard or start at right guard if Mathis magically returns. In his 8 seasons in the NFL, Barbre has experience playing all over the offensive line but has played just 123 career snaps at guard and has yet to start a single game at guard either.

But on the bright side, Barbre has played well at guard when he’s been asked to. According to Pro Football Focus, Barbre allowed 0 sacks, 1 quarterback hit and 1 quarterback hurry in those 123 total career snaps at guard. Those are solid numbers and he should translate well to playing guard in the Eagles’ uptempo, spread offense. During his week 1 debut at right tackle for the Eagles in 2014, Barbre played 33 snaps and graded positively as both a pass and run blocker.

Kelly seems to believe strongly in Barbre as well, as he took the time to praise him individually during various moments throughout the team’s offseason. Even saying that he was “really excited” about Barbre playing right guard…but what about him possibly playing left guard?

Chip: really excited about Allen Barbre at right guard
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) March 25, 2015

Then there is the younger other guard. At 25-years old, Tobin certainly has more room to grow than Barbre does, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready to start right now. Once Mathis went down at the start of the 2014 regular season, Tobin eventually got his chance to start at that left guard spot during week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers. Although Tobin did well as a run blocker, he struggled as a pass blocker, allowing 1 sack, 7 quarterback hits and 11 quarterback hurries in 535 total snaps in 2014.

Towards the end of the season, Tobin was dealing with concussion symptoms and that hindered his playing time throughout the remainder of the year. But he had his ups and downs throughout the year as a starter and must improve this offseason as a pass blocker. In his only start at right guard in 2014 against the Green Bay Packers during week 11, Tobin gave up his lone sack of the season but dominated in the running game, earning a +2.3 grade as a run blocker, according to Pro Football Focus.

Here’s an example of Tobin’s strong play in the running game against the Packers. On this play, he pulls to his right and goes low on linebacker Clay Matthews, taking him right out of the play and clearing a path for running back LeSean McCoy:

Tobin has good mobility for his size at 6-6, 290 pounds and that’s apparent on the play above. It’s no secret that the Eagles prefer to have athletic offensive linemen up front and both Tobin and Barbre are underrated athletes. Although it’ll be tough to see Mathis leave Philadelphia, it seems like it’s inevitable at this point that he’ll likely be traded by the time the Eagles open the 2015 season.

But despite what many have said, the Eagles have promising, albeit inexperienced options at guard to both replace Mathis and start at right guard as well. Only time will tell just how good Barbre and Tobin will be if they’re called upon to start on the interior of the Eagles’ offensive line but either way, “The Other Guards” must be ready.

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