Offensive Line Working Against The Clock
NOVACARE COMPLEX — Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said Monday that as of right now, rookie Jason Kelce is his starting center.
And so, after a tremendous amount of deck shuffling, the line shakes out like this, from left to right:
Jason Peters. Evan Mathis. Kelce. Danny Watkins. Todd Herremans.
Two starters remain from last year’s unit, with only Peters playing at the same position. Two-fifths of the offensive line is comprised of rookies, who have only been practicing with the team for a few weeks.
“We’re definitely still behind when it comes to many aspects of the game,” said Watkins. “So the onus is on us to put the time in, get familiar and get to the standard at which they expect us to be.”
Watkins is not only working against hurdles that face any rookie in this lockout-shortened offseason, but has also not seen the same faces consistently beside him, particularly to his right.
The latest mug to pop beside Watkins has made the rookie guard happy.
“That’s great for me,” said Watkins of Herremans being moved to right tackle. “He’s such an athletic individual. I think he’s going to do great over there, and help me out along the way.”
While the confidence is high that Herremans can make the transition, he has only made five starts at tackle on the professional level — all of which were on the left side. Meanwhile, his old spot has been filled by Mathis, who has 22 starts in seven NFL seasons.
“Day 1 at training camp when we brought him in, he showed signs that he was an excellent player, and throughout training camp he showed that he was a consistent player,” said Mornhinweg of Mathis. “He’s an excellent athlete, a tough physical guy, and he’s really smart.”
That intelligence is going to come in handy. The moving pieces have just settled into position, and Opening Day is less than two weeks away. And it‘s unlikely that this starting unit will play together in the final preseason game against the Jets.
Tick tock.
“It’s all about the chemistry,” said Watkins. “You try and build as much as that as you can at camp, but we weren’t fortunate to have that, just moving and shuffling guys. These next couple weeks are going to be crucial, that’s for sure.”
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