Chance Warmack must be a difference-maker for Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles appear to be moving towards elevating former first-round draft choice Chance Warmack to starting left guard.
Two weeks into the 2017 NFL regular season the Philadelphia Eagles appear to be ready to make a change on the offensive line.
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, although these things tend to happen suddenly and without very much in the way of official notice from team coaches and executives.
Goeffrey Knox of Inside the Iggles recently reported the pending rumor surrounding the possibility of left guard Chance Warmack being moved into the starting rotation. Where there’s smoke there’s always fire and the reasons for this apparent move are plentiful.
An expert opinion:
Let’s take the opinion of NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger, an offensive lineman in the league for 11 years. He held back nothing this week in describing the play of current starter Isaac Seumalo when discussing the move with Philly.com.
"He’s been awful,’’ he said. “They need to fix that position now because he was a liability. The Chiefs lined [edge-rusher] Dee Ford up on him Sunday. They knew he was a weak link. When you give up four sacks in one game, I don’t even know how you’re allowed to finish the game."
Any questions?
Baldinger’s analysis also points to Sunday’s matchup against the New York Giants, who just happen to have perhaps the best defensive line in the NFL, which features Olivier Vernon, Jason Pierre-Paul, and 350-pound defensive tackle Damon ‘Snacks’ Harrison.
"They put Olivier inside sometimes,’’ Baldinger said. “And if Isaac’s in there, I don’t know why they wouldn’t. He’d eat him alive. He’s the most skilled pass-rusher in the league right now. He’d kill him. Because the kid has no confidence."
Sunday’s game:
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Yes, this Giants front isn’t kidding around, and even though the Eagles have better weapons to play with in the passing game, nothing will matter if quarterback Carson Wentz spends much of his time on his back or has to be his teams leading rusher, like he was against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Heading into Week 3, no Eagles running back has accumulated more than 48 yards out of the backfield and if this doesn’t change against New York, a once-promising regular season for Philadelphia will be placed in immediate jeopardy because the Eagles will not beat the G-men with a total like that. Further, Wentz will not rush for 55 yards against New York, as he did against the Chiefs.
Holding things close to the vest:
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson can stay as tight-lipped about this move as he chooses. Why not give the Giants something to think about by creating some semblance of uncertainty, right?
Except nothing is uncertain about the fact that Seumalo is probably in over his head as a rookie and a player like Warmack can only make things better, even if just a little.
It’s a fact that the Philadelphia Eagles will have opportunities against a highly suspect Giants offfensive line while enjoying the friendly confines of Lincoln Financial Field for the first time this season. But this game has a different kind of ‘spoiler alert’ written all over it and the Eagles running game, for starters, must improve – immediately.