5 Philadelphia Eagles linemen who benefit most from Jason Peters return

Five young Philadelphia Eagles lineman should be stoked about Peters’ return.

Well, we now know that the big news coming out of the Philadelphia Eagles nest that Brian Baldinger alluded to on Twitter earlier this week was the decision to bring back future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Jason Peters. “The Bodyguard” will be moving to a new position, however, kicking over to right guard to replace the injured all-world guard Brandon Brooks.

With one of the most universally beloved Eagles of all time returning for (at least) one last dance, the entire team benefits. There are certainly cases to be made about who benefits the most. Sure, Carson Wentz benefits from Peters’ return by being now more likely to stay upright, as do the receivers by proxy. The running game also benefits by once again being able to run behind the legend. Peters himself should benefit as well by not having to be on an island. He’ll instead be sandwiched between Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, increasing the chance that Peters won’t be flagged for a bevy of borderline-to-legitimate false starts.

young Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman should benefit the most from Peters’ return.

Andre Dillard taking over as the Eagles’ left tackle for the foreseeable future was a theory that was in question, but a position change for J.P. appears to, officially, be the plan going forward. Honestly, this had to happen. It’s why the Eagles chose him with the 22nd overall pick in 2019’s draft. While Dillard has had a rocky start to his NFL career, his work with offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland paid off throughout the season, and he actually showed signs of improvement.

Peters has also shown this mentorship to young offensive linemen before, Jordan Mailata for instance. Peters was often seen talking and working with him on the sidelines during preseason games. This led to the Australian improving by leaps and bounds. Mailata is certainly a player to watch out for, and though some seem to have given up on him, he’s a guy Eagles fans shouldn’t forget about.

Matt Pryor, the perceived starting right guard until the Peters signing, is another young player who showed some flashes in relief a season ago. With that being said, his readiness to step in and start a full season was in question, hence the return of Peters, but once Peters gets the hang of the guard thing, he’ll be able to relay that much more wisdom to someone like Pryor.

While Peters has already influenced pretty much every offensive lineman on the Eagles roster, the team also drafted both starting tackles for last year’s Auburn team in Jack Driscoll and Prince Tega Wanogho. Both possess the versatility necessary to potentially shift inside to guard if a situation calls for it, and Peters can provide his expertise to them, not only from a guard’s perspective but as one of the best tackles to do it as well.

While Jeff Stoutland is an amazing offensive line coach, the influence of Peters on the offensive line can’t be stressed enough. One just needs to look at the video of Lane Johnson holding up Peters’s jersey while running into the field for Super Bowl LII. The following tweet pretty much sums up the legend’s impact on his teammates.

Johnson and Kelce are two of Peters’s finest protégés, and there are potentially a couple of young Eagles who will be able to credit the legend for their growth thanks to his reacquisition. The entire team will certainly benefit from one of their locker room leaders returning, but its the young offensive linemen that should benefit the most.