Philadelphia Eagles: Jason Kelce earns top-5 ranking from an NFL expert

Philadelphia Eagles star Mr. Kelce gets his usual nod for a different reason.

At the beginning of his Philadelphia Eagles career, he was one of the more underappreciated and overlooked stars of the NFL game, but you can’t hide talent. These days, a man who was once criticized for being undersized now looks at that as one of the more defining and complementary aspects of what’s been a legendary career with the ‘Birds’.

Jason Kelce has turned a steep corner, and after earning First-team All-Pro nods in each of the last three seasons, along with three Pro Bowl nods in three of the last six (2014, 2016, 2019), one can make the argument that we could argue for a Hall-of-Fame bust and a permanent spot in Canton. It definitely won’t be hard to get anyone to acknowledge that the Pro Bowl voters in 2015, 2017, and 2018 were under the influence of something.

Yes, finding reasons to praise Mr. Kelce is easy. We’ve gotten used to doing so and hearing it. That trend seems to be carrying over into the 2020 season as another trusted source made mention of him in a recent player ranking.

Love them or hate them, we can’t seem to ignore PFF, especially if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

It’s been an interesting couple of days if you’re a “Birds” fan. Star right tackle Lane Johnson returned from the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list on August 11th. The head coach, Doug Pederson, returned a day later. Then, there are the stat gurus over at Pro Football Focus.

Here’s a story that you can enjoy without a premium subscription. Recently, ahead of the 2020 regular season, they ranked the top 25 interior linemen in all of NFL football. We’d all agree that Kelce may be the best center in all of pro football right now. According to PFF, he’s also top three in the category of all of the interior linemen playing center or guard. Here’s some of what Ben Linsey, the writer of this one, had to say.

"After coming into the league as a sixth-round selection out of Cincinnati, Kelce has turned into arguably the best center in the league, and that’s exactly where he comes in on this list. He’s not in the same league as someone like Rodney Hudson when it comes to pass protection, but Kelce does do a good job of keeping the quarterback upright. Where he really differentiates himself, though, is in his ability to get out in space and maintain blocks in the running game."

There may not be anything earth-shattering there, but you get the point. The anchor of an offensive line that took home Built Ford Tough Offensive Line of the Year honors on the night before Super Bowl 52 returns for what might be his final Eagles season in 2020.

He’s had nine brilliant seasons in the midnight green. Let’s enjoy the ride. It figures to be a great one as he’ll be playing next to Jason Peters who makes the move to the right guard position after 16 seasons of playing left tackle.