The Fantasy Index preseason annual is at the printers, so too late to make any minor revisions to the offensive line rankings. The Philadelphia Eagles came in 2nd in that regard when we put the thing to bed. That looks a little high right now.
Training camps haven't even begun, but right guard Brandon Brooks is out for the year with a torn Achilles. The Eagles were prepared to move on from Jason Peters, having selected Andre Dillard in the first round a year ago, but now they'll have two new starters -- and the fill-in for Brooks will be a lesser player.
Matt Pryor, a 2018 sixth-rounder, is the likely replacement. Another possibility is fourth-rounder Jack Driscoll, a tackle at Auburn who could move inside. It might have been Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who was working there last preseason when Brooks was recovering from another injury, but Vaitai is in Detroit now.
This isn't too suggest Philadelphia's line is suddenly a poor one. In Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson they have top-shelf players at center and right tackle. If they had any concerns about Dillard they could have brought back Peters, who was apparently open to returning. Left guard Isaac Seumalo is a solid starter. It's really just the Brooks hole that is a concern, but at least it's early enough in the offseason that Philly can line up an alternative if Pryor, or Driscoll, can't hack it.
Part of our positive assessment of the Eagles line was the idea that they might be better at left tackle with Dillard in for Peters. Peters is 38 years old, and his last Pro Bowl season was in 2016. He's missed 12 games the last three years, and he hasn't performed at an elite level when on the field. It's a transition to a new starter that the team has been preparing for since trading up (ahead of Houston) to select Dillard in the first place.
Last season, the Eagles allowed 37 sacks on their quarterbacks, which was a little better than average. But looking at quarterback hits, only seven teams allowed more. Lots of those poor performances were by the worst lines in the league.
| OFFENSIVE LINE PERFORMANCE, 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | Sacks | QB Hits |
| Oakland Raiders | 29 | 52 |
| New Orleans Saints | 25 | 58 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 28 | 59 |
| Cleveland Browns | 41 | 67 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 28 | 68 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 50 | 69 |
| Kansas City | 25 | 71 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 36 | 73 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 32 | 78 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 22 | 79 |
| Denver Broncos | 41 | 84 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 42 | 84 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 48 | 84 |
| Green Bay Packers | 36 | 85 |
| Chicago Bears | 45 | 86 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 23 | 87 |
| Buffalo Bills | 40 | 87 |
| New England Patriots | 28 | 90 |
| Detroit Lions | 43 | 92 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 34 | 93 |
| Houston Texans | 49 | 93 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 32 | 95 |
| Washington | 50 | 97 |
| Tennessee Titans | 56 | 99 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 37 | 100 |
| Carolina Panthers | 58 | 102 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 47 | 106 |
| New York Jets | 52 | 106 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 48 | 111 |
| New York Giants | 43 | 119 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 50 | 136 |
| Miami Dolphins | 58 | 147 |
This isn't to sugarcoat the Brooks injury. It's a blow, and makes sense to move the Eagles out of the league's top-5 lines -- maybe out of the top 10. They'll definitely be worse at that guard spot.
But if they're a little better at left tackle, and they should be, it should still be a strong line and a strong offensive team.
--Andy Richardson