Inside The Tightrope The Eagles Are Walking With Their Backup Offensive Linemen

Everything in life is contextual, but the Eagles’ offensive line playing poorly is not something that’s been much of a concern in the Jeff Stoutland era.

On paper, Philadelphia has the deepest offensive line in the NFL with as many as 14 “who should be playing in the league this season,” according to one league executive who spoke to Eagles On SI this summer.

However, on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles’ reserves on the offensive front didn’t exactly inspire confidence in backup quarterbacks Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Kyle McCord, resulting in an ugly performance that generated 55 net passing yards and 88 total, which is hard to do over 60 minutes of football.

When the real games begin, the Eagles' starting five – from left to right Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, and Lane Johnson – remains the best in football. 

The backups may look a little shakier than last season, when Fred Johnson was the swing tackle and Steen would often tag in, first when Mekhi Becton was dealing with his troublesome knee and then when Dickerson tweaked his knee late in the season.  

Dickerson, once an All-American center at Alabama, ended up being the backup in the pivot for Jurgens and moved inside when the latter was having his back issues. Steen would then enter at left guard.

This season, there are far more bodies with four rookies matriculating as freshmen at Stoutland University. 

Of that group, only fifth-round pick Drew Kendall is being considered for a potential game-day role as the interior backup, something exemplified by the natural center getting work at left guard in the second half of the 22-13 preseason loss to Cleveland on Saturday night.

The Eagles love the upside of fifth-round pick Myles Hinton, particularly, according to a visiting personnel executive who spoke to Eagles On SI. Sixth-round pick Cameron Williams and massive undrafted rookie Hollin Pierce are also players the Eagles want to keep working with, but neither is expected to be ready to play early in their careers.

That means you need the find a way to keep component backups, which is where veterans like Matt Pryor, Kendall Lamm, Darian Kinnard, Brett Toth, Trevor Keegan, and perhaps even Kenyon Green factor in.