Only the toughest draft nothing cares about guards and centers. It’s a lot nicer to talk about cornerbacks with Olympic speed and wide receivers that catch everything being thrown in their path. No one is surprised by 40-year-old attacks.
But for the Eagles, the inside of the offense is an underrated need as we head off on draft day.
Maybe not quite up there with angle or width. But it’s close.
Jason Kelce is 33, and his 11th season is about to go from year to year at this point. Any season could be the last of his brilliant career. Brandon Brooks turns 32 this summer and is suffering from a series of serious injuries, including last year’s wiped-out Achilles who ended his season before it began.
They are two of the best in the business, but we are at the point where the Eagles need to think about their substitutes.
Even Isaac Seumalo is already in his 6th season. Seumalo, a third pick in 2016, is the only domestic line the Eagles have drawn in the first three rounds since Firefighter Danny’s 2011 disaster.
The Eagles do have some young depth along the domestic offense.
Nate Herbig, who withdrew from Stanford in 2019, started 12 games on the two waiting spots last year and was not bad. Sua Opeta, a second-year player from Weber State, started two games and did OK. Jack Driscoll, a rookie from the fourth round from Auburn, started four games on the right tackle, but can also play guard. Luke Juriga, who withdrew from Western Michigan last year, spent last year as the rugby center and got the handful of snaps when Kelce briefly left the Browns game last November.
So there are options, but no one knows how good one of them is. Herbig has at least shown that he can be a capable backup, but whether the Eagles will project him or one of the others as a long-term solution in a world after Kelce and Brooks remains to be seen.
There is an idea that Seumalo will move to the center when Kelce retires, but he is a free agent after the 2022 season, so his future is also in the air. And if the Eagles do keep him, they can keep him on left guard anyway.
All of this means the Eagles need to consider reinforcing the inside of the offensive line in draft, and the place to do that is mostly the midfield.
Think of the top Eagles’ innings of the past 20 years. Brooks, Seumalo and Evan Mathis were all threerdTodd Herremans was a 4de-Kelce was a 6 and Jamaal Jackson, Artis Hicks and Hank Fraley were not drafted.
If the Eagles no longer trade, it looks very likely that they will go on to number 12 and 37 in the corner and wide receiver. This will leave two choices from the third round and a fourth round – Nr. 70 and no. 84 in the 3rd round and no. 123 in the 4th round – to address the inside of the offensive line.
You may be lucky and land a Kelce in the late round, and once in a generation you might take a Shawn Andrews in the first round, but the sweet spot for innings seems to be the third and fourth rounds.
Here’s a look at five inside lineouts that might make sense for the Eagles:
Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma [6-4, 300]: Humphrey was a three-year starter at the Center for the Sooners and was named the offensive linebacker of the Big 12 conference last season. For three years, did not allow a bag in Norman, which blocked for Kyler Murray in 2018 and Jalen Hurts in 2019.
Quinn Meinerz, Wisconsin Whitewater [6-3, 320]: Meinerz is unannounced to a monster performance at the Senior Bowl. Although he played at an NCAA Division 3 school, he dominated at the Senior Bowl and really put himself on the draft map. Meinerz has not played since the fall of 2019.
Wyatt Davis, Ohio [6-4, 310]: Maybe the Eagles would be gone in the third round, but if he runs down to 70, it will make a lot of sense. Eagles fans would love to keep his mean streak. His grandfather, Willie Davis, was a line of defense for the Vince Lombardi Packers.
Kendrick Green, Illinois [6-4, 315]: Arrived in Champaign as a defensive tackle but moved to the offensive line at the insistence of then-coach Lovie Smith from Illinois. Has experience at the guard as well as the center. Compared to NFL.com consultant analyst Lance Zierlein with Seumalo.
Ben Cleveland, Georgia [6-6, 345]: Only a one-year starter for the Bulldogs and will probably have to shed a few pounds to play in the NFL, but an interesting waiting prospect playing past the whistle. Probably Day 3 will pick up and it will take a year to work with Jeff Stoutland, but it could be an NFL guard from the starting point.
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