Eagles barely avoid NFC East’s cellar in offensive line power ranking

Let’s talk about that Philadelphia Eagles offensive line for a second. In a flash, 13 games have evaporated from the team’s schedule. Only four remain, and that, at times, vaunted O-line will have a huge say in how the final month of action plays out. That should trigger some confidence. The Birds have two guys who have legitimate arguments for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson to help lead them.

We’ve gone back and forth about Philadelphia’s chances at a postseason berth and whether they’d be better suited to position themselves for better draft positioning as they did a year ago. For the sake of argument, let’s try to avoid thinking like Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie for a second though.

If Jalen Hurts is the quarterback for the foreseeable and immediate future, one that may extend into 2022’s regular season (and it appears that’s possible), then playoff experience would be invaluable, even if the Eagles are bounced after only a single game.

Philadelphia’s offensive line is banged up, but they’re needed now. They’re among the NFL’s best O-lines and one of the game’s best positional coaches in Jeff Stoutland. Why is it then that, in a recent 32-team ranking, they barely avoided a last-place finish in the NFC East? Is that a fair ranking, or is this a result of there being too many injuries?

Let’s put our thinking caps on and dig into that one a little deeper.

The Eagles get some love from Pro Football Focus… sort of.

Like them or not, Pro Football Focus always delivers something worth checking out. Recently, ahead of the Eagles’ Week 15 game versus the Washington Football Team, they ranked all of the NFL’s 32 offensive lines. The Eagles saw a top-ten finish, at nine. That also ranks them as the third-best in the NFC East.

As you might imagine, Jason Kelce earned the highest grade (84.7). The lowest-graded player is Nate Herbig with a mark of 62.8. Here’s what Sam Monson, the writer of this one, had to say:

"The Eagles’ offensive line is another with few weak links. Jordan Mailata has gone from strength to strength in the NFL, even improving after he signed a big-money extension. He has allowed just 18 pressures in 11 games while also putting together some phenomenal run-blocking displays.Center Jason Kelce has been back to his best this season, earning a 90.0-plus run-blocking grade and allowing 15 total pressures in 13 games. The Eagles’ offensive line performing this well is especially impressive given the loss of multiple starters to injury."

The Dallas Cowboys were PFF’s highest-rated team. Washington’s front five is ranked sixth. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2), San Francisco 49ers (3), Kansas City Chiefs (4), Cleveland Browns (5), Los Angeles Rams (7), New England Patriots (9), and L.A. Chargers (round out the rest of the top ten.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stated in his Wednesday press conference that there have been no changes in Brandon Brooks’ status. Jason Kelce left Week 13’s game with an injury. Philly activated a practice window for center/guard hybrid Jack Anderson. Isaac Seumalo has been on the injured reserve since the end of September, and as of November 30th, for the second time in two seasons, Jack Driscoll’s season ended with another trip to the I.R.

Maybe that ranking for Philly is fair with all things being considered. Don’t fret though. This unit is good enough to spearhead a winning streak that could catapult the Eagles into the postseason.

Sure, everyone would love for Hurts to channel his inner-Aaron Rodgers, but that hasn’t happened yet. You don’t need to rewatch the game film to figure that one out, but we’ve all watched enough football to know that keeping him upright to keep his confidence at manageable levels and continuing to establish the running game on a week-in and week-out basis will be key in his success.

The five guys they have up front can most certainly make that happen if what we’ve seen so far is any indication.