Eagles Interior Offensive Lineman Do Not Impress In PFF's Pass Blocking Rankings

by JasonB on Jun 15, 2011 2:11 PM EDT in Philadelphia Eagles News

Yesterday we took a look at the pass blocking efficiency ranking that Pro Football Focus did for offensive tackles. It was noted that Jason Peters and surprisingly King Dunlap both graded out very well. This is not the case for the interior of the Eagles line.

First, we'll start with the "good." Which is that Todd Herremans didn't make the top 20 or the bottom 20. My calling that "the good" should be a harbinger of what's to come...

Nick Cole ranked at the very bottom of their PBE ranks for guards. That he wasn't very good is no surprise, but according to the PFF ranks he was even worse than we thought. No wonder the Eagles spent a first round pick on a right guard.

At center, the Eagles didn't fare much better as Mike McGlynn was the 8th lowest ranked. Hilariously though, 2010 pro bowlers Shaun O'Hara (Giants) and Maurkice Pouncey (Steelers) were the 3rd and 4th worst pass blocking centers in the game. O'Hara was awful last year and his election to the pro bowl was obviously a joke, but at least he spent most of the season injured. Pouncey was simply overrated to a degree I haven't seen in a while. Every objective measurement of his performance showed a below average center and yet week in and week out announcers would just heap praise on the guy for no sensible reason. It was really amazing.

Back to the Eagles though, the good news is that if all goes well, their two weakest links won't even be in the lineup this season. With Jamaal Jackson hopefully healthy and Danny Watkins expected to slot in at right guard, Cole and McGlynn will take their place on the bench or elsewhere....

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Probably the least suprising BGN article of all time. How Vick and McCoy had success this season is beyond me.

"If I can get you to think twice, I'm in your head."
-Brian Dawkins

"Yeah, I like to hit people"
-Brandon Graham

by immynimmy on Jun 15, 2011 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

Pocket collapse, running for your life?

FLY #7 FLY !!!
In MUDD I trust !!!

by BWestFactor on Jun 15, 2011 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Do you guys think that Jamaal Jackson can return to form? He’s missed one season and is coming from knee and elbow injuries. I saw him as 10-15 best C in the league prior to the injury anyway.

by Noble Psychopath on Jun 15, 2011 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

When he was in he was a top 10 easily. The future we’ll halfto wait and see. I don’t think he will ever return to form but, he can’t be any worse than what we’ve got.

by h2o_34_35_44 on Jun 15, 2011 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting

Todd Herremans has always been a little overrated in my opinion. He is a solid starter but sometimes fans build him up and claim he is a Pro Bowl snub every year. McGlynn a good starting Center. Give him a break, he just picked up the position, but if Jamaal Jackson returns to form then McG will back him up.

"The positions I played, every play, I was making contact, not like that … Deion Sanders. He couldn’t tackle my wife. He’s back there dancing out there instead of hitting." -Chuck Bednarik

by MidwesternEaglesfan on Jun 15, 2011 3:59 PM EDT reply actions

McGlynn is NOT a good starting center. Maybe he will be at some point… but he is most certainly not right now and I didn’t this stat to tell me that.

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by JasonB on Jun 15, 2011 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree.

FLY #7 FLY !!!
In MUDD I trust !!!

by BWestFactor on Jun 15, 2011 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

To me, at this point and time, McGlynn is like Patterson. Good backup, can provide you with a few solid starts in the year, but not a quality starter. Now thats not to say McGlynn wont become a great starter someday (Pattersons has been in this league long enough, i dont think he’ll improve much).

FLY #7 FLY !!!
In MUDD I trust !!!

by BWestFactor on Jun 15, 2011 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

For a guy who never played the postion in his life

McGlynn was more than fine. I be more that happy to keep him as OL depth, especially at RG. I have a feeling that, given Mudd’s new system, my man Shipley and Kelce will be given every opporunity to win the C spot. I can’t bank on Jamaal contributing at a high level any more than I can bank on Marlin Jackson contributing.

by DLawrence55 on Jun 15, 2011 4:14 PM EDT reply actions

Im most exicited to see Watkins and the return of JJ. JJ might be better now that he get to engage NTs right on instead of taking a step back in pass pro.

by Anders Jensen on Jun 15, 2011 4:30 PM EDT reply actions

I feel vindicated.

LOL

I said Herremans was average. I took flak. I said McGlynn was bad. I took flak. Stevie Wonder said Cole was terrible. Everyone sang along to We Are The World.

I-C-Y-U-H8-ME

by Qwest on Jun 15, 2011 5:02 PM EDT reply actions

This actually doesn’t tell us a ton about Herremans. What if he’s #21? All we know is that he’s neither top 20 nor bottom 20 in a skill that makes up only part of an interior lineman’s function.

"There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact it's all dark."

by alcatraz0109 on Jun 15, 2011 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Well...I only noted he was average...

…while many were saying he was pro bowl caliber. No matter how you look at it, even if he was #21, he was much closer to average than he is to pro bowl caliber. And even if he was Shawn Andrews circa 2006 in the run game, we don’t run the ball enough for that skill to outshine being average in the pass game.

Oh, and by the way, if you are going to make the argument “What if he’s #21?” then you open up the argument of “What if he’s #43?”

I-C-Y-U-H8-ME

by Qwest on Jun 16, 2011 7:39 AM EDT up reply actions

I take these stats in stride...

Whatever the case, I see nothing but improvement this coming year and beyond.

"This is one of the top 10 biggest bonehead trades in the history of the NFL."
-Redskins TE Chris Cooley

by Ralf E Chubbs on Jun 15, 2011 6:52 PM EDT reply actions

I like to keep it as simple as possible when thinking about the C position this year: Yr 2 McGlynn should be better than yr 1 McGlynn, so we should theoretically get better play from the C position this year by simply doing everything this year the same way we did them last year, and I would say that yr 2 McGlynn starting at C is not only the most likely outcome, but i would theorize the worst case scenario as well. Let me explain. If Jamal ends up being our starting C, then that means he will be playing better than yr 2 McGlynn, who, in theory, would have been playing better than yr 1 McGlynn, so the improvement in going from yr 1 McGlynn to Jamal would be, again in theory, better than going from yr 1 McGlynn to yr 2 McGlynn. And if something crazy were to happen, like Shipley or Kelce starting and it wasn’t due to catastrophic injuries to both Jamal and McGlynn i.e. one of them actually outplayed both Jamal and yr 2 McGlynn, then that improvement would have to be, again in theory, greater than both yr 1 McGlynn to yr 2 McGlynn and yr 1 McGlynn to Jamal. Simple right?

by The Reddgie on Jun 16, 2011 7:45 PM EDT reply actions