June 06, 2015
A week ago, we envisioned an Eagles offensive line without Evan Mathis, who has skipped voluntary Eagles organized team activities this offseason. Friday night, ESPN insider Adam Caplan said on 97.5 the Fanatic that he is pessimistic that Mathis will be with the team this season. Caplan's words:
"The Eagles, as far as they are concerned, this player, Evan Mathis, has three years left on his contract, so they don’t need to do anything. They’re not going to do anything do his contract from what I understand. I certainly understand both sides here. From the Eagles standpoint, you have a player, although still very solid in Evan Mathis, he turns 34 in November. Had he been maybe 28, 29, even 30, you may consider what he’s looking for. But it’s hard to find a scenario when you’re the Eagles to give someone more money at that age…
I think from Evan’s standpoint, I clearly understand what he’s looking at. He’s not looking for a lot more money, not very much at all. A slight pay increase is my understanding, and incentives in his contract if he makes the Pro Bowl, which I think is fair to me. If he would hit them, obviously he would be rewarded, but of course the team would be because if he makes the Pro Bowl everyone’s happy.
But, the fact of the matter is, nothing that I know of is on the horizon here, and I’ve been asked repeatedly about his future, and I would say I would be pessimistic, clearly, for him to be on the (Eagles) this fall."
So far at OTAs, the offensive line starters have looked like this:
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Jason Peters | Allen Barbre | Jason Kelce | Matt Tobin | Lane Johnson |
If the Eagles head into the regular season with the above lineup, the OL starters will have almost no experience playing with the guy immediately to their left or right:
| Eagles OL cohesion | Snaps |
| Number of snaps Jason Peters has played next to Allen Barbre | 0 |
| Number of snaps Allen Barbre has played next to Jason Kelce | 0 |
| Number of snaps Jason Kelce has played next to Matt Tobin | 223 |
| Number of snaps Matt Tobin has played next to Lane Johnson | 143 |
It takes a long time for an offensive line to get good at blocking blitz pickups, stunts, twists, etc. The Eagles' offensive linemen will have logged no significant amount of time playing with the guys next to them. That's a problem.
Not to mention, you're looking at a downgrade from last year to this year at LG, RG, and your first two backups off the bench.
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