Up Front

Posted: July 14th, 2022 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

There are questions about the Eagles offense heading into the upcoming season, but the offensive line isn’t one of them. The Eagles have a deep, talented line with the potential to dominate games.

Landon Dickerson was a rookie last year and played well. The sky is the limit for him moving forward.

Dickerson is big, strong and moves well. He’s also got a nasty streak. He’s not just looking to block someone. He wants to physically overwhelm the defender across from him. That mentality can be a double-edged sword. If you’re too aggressive, you can be sloppy and miss blocks. Dickerson is smart and technically sound. He’s able to execute the block well and then punish his guy. That’s what you want in an OL.

The whole group is incredibly talented. The focus is usually on their run blocking, but check out this pass protection.

That is impressive. And doing that against a talented Saints front.

Now let’s move on to run blocking. It’s always more fun.

The Eagles aren’t just bullies. Jeff Stoutland is a great teacher and really focuses on the basics. He wants his guys to "surface their blocks” just right. When you combine high level execution with size, strength and athleticism, you get a dominant OL.

One of the things that really jumps out is the depth of this group. We’ve seen good play from multiple backups:

Andre Dillard
Sua Opeta
Jack Driscoll

Now you add in Cam Jurgens and you’ve got a really good group. That’s a long way from 2016. The starters were excellent that year, but Lane Johnson was suspended for 10 games and the team went 2-8. They really struggled without him.

Losing Johnson would be tough again this year. I don’t want to minimize how good he is, but the Eagles are in a much better spot. They have drafted, signed and developed good players.

I’m still excited to see Kayode Awosika in action. He could prove to be a good backup OG. Josh Sills and Will Dunkle are talented rookie UDFAs who could make the practice squad and develop into NFL players. Rookie Jarrid Williams should play RT and has NFL tools. It will be interesting to see if Stoutland can develop him.

Stoutland is a huge part of all of this. Building an OL is more than just drafting players early. You must draft the right guys and then you need to teach them well. It also helps if you know how to scheme to maximize their potential. Stoutland has done a terrific job in all three areas.

When you have the right players and the right coach, you get a great product. The Eagles should have a great OL this season.

Can Jalen Hurts take advantage of that?

*****

One of the most amazing moments in a great rivalry, but it goes overlooked because there are so many other insane finishes between the Eagles and Giants.

https://twitter.com/Ol_TimeFootball/status/1545155450957484034

I loved watching Clyde Simmons handle the ball. It looks tiny in those gigantic mitts of his.

And boy was it fun to see Bill Parcells mad. What a great ending…

http://igglesblitz.com/2022/07/up-front-2/

NOTE:  CLICK ON LINK TO ARTICLE ABOVE TO VIEW VIDEOS

Tommy must be out of material. This is a recap of too many articles to count. 

It is amazing to me how many Giants-Eagles games have ended in bizarre ways.

One of the better rivalries in football just because the game is never over.