The Philadelphia Eagles’ second-string offensive line absolutely bullied the New England Patriots’ backup defensive front on August 22. Yeah, it was preseason, but seriously, the film from that game showed some legit encouraging signs for Eagles fans, especially when it comes to their O-line depth. This isn’t just a few good plays, it looks like Philly’s got an absurd amount of young talent cooking along the interior, and the league better start noticing.
The Young Guns Up Front Were Electric
You had Drew Kendall, Willie Lampkin, and Markel Bell, and honestly, all three produced some impressive moments. Bell, man, he looks incredibly strong in his upper body. There was one play where he tossed an edge defender out of the club, opening up a huge hole. But it wasn’t just individual flashes. The entire backup unit was excellent when running outside zone concepts. This kind of play requires the whole offensive line to work together, and they did it flawlessly. The initial movement created awesome horizontal displacement across the front, and those individual blocks stayed connected long enough to let Will Shipley press the run right through the B-gap for a nice gain. This unit clicked, man. It was beautiful to watch.
Shipley Ran Wild, New Concepts Emerging
Behind that dominant line, Will Shipley put in some serious work. He carried the ball 11 times for 56 yards and even punched in a touchdown! Shipley ran with good vision and decisiveness, consistently identifying the available lane and running hard through contact. He looks like a perfect fit for this new outside zone world the Eagles are embracing. And speaking of new looks, keep an eye on their C-gap insert concepts, where a receiver comes inside to block through the C-gap. The Rams have used this frequently in recent seasons, and it appears Mannion is keen to incorporate it here. They were even trying it out on the first offensive snap of the game, sending Darius Cooper on a deep corner route through the C-gap, although the Patriots covered it well.
Coach Kuper’s Masterclass
You can’t talk about this performance without shouting out offensive line coach Chris Kuper. What a job he’s doing! A lot of these outside-zone principles are relatively new for this group, but they already look super comfortable working in unison. It’s outstanding stuff. When outside zone is executed this cleanly, with great individual blocks coming together as a collective, it truly doesn’t get much better than that. Kuper’s got these guys playing at a high level, and it’s a testament to his coaching.
So, what does all this preseason action mean? It means the Eagles’ offensive line depth is the real deal, folks. They’ve got young talent that’s already executing complex schemes. Keep an eye on this O-line depth, Philly. It could be a serious strength as the season gets rolling.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleeding Green Nation.
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