Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eagles Notebook

Posted May 17th, 2026 | 1 Comment »

There isn’t a compelling storyline for today so let’s cover a few items of interest. Shortly after I posted my piece on the schedule last week, a few things popped up on Twitter that were interesting.

You would certainly rather have the schedule be harder late in the season when you are running a new offense and have several new coaches. There will be ups and downs in the first month.

The graph from Warren Sharp shows you that the schedule isn’t overwhelming in terms of opponents. I think it was listed as the seventh easiest in the league, based on offseason predictions. We’ll see what happens when the season actually starts.

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I mentioned Jason Peters as a possible HOF player yesterday. A few of you wondered why I just said possible and not a sure thing. It feels like it gets harder and harder to make it into the HOF with so many special players in the modern era. There aren’t stats to judge OTs by so you rely on a lot of anecdotal evidence and talking points.

Peters has some competition with other LTs. Tyron Smith was an 8-time Pro Bowl selection and had 2 All-Pro seasons. Terron Armstead was voted to 5 Pro Bowls. Do I think Peters is better than them? Absolutely, but competition can split votes and make it harder to get in. Peters is one of the best OL I ever saw play. He would certainly get my vote, but I don’t have one.

Here is an opinion from an unbiased NFL analyst.

Let’s hope Peters does get in. I just hate to be definitive when I’m not sure about something.

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Some of you continue to question why I think the Eagles wanted to go OT in the first round. I studied the evidence available and came to what I felt was a logical conclusion.

The Eagles brought in three OTs with first round grades to Philly for a visit.

Kadyn Proctor
Caleb Lomu
Max Iheanachor

We never got confirmation of Blake Miller or Monroe Freeling visiting. We know they met with both of them at the Combine. Proctor said the Eagles showed a lot of interest in him at the Combine. I’d be shocked if Freeling didn’t visit Philly. His measurables and testing numbers show the kind of critical traits that Howie Roseman wants in his OTs.

We know Howie likes to draft for the future more than the present. He drafted Jason Kelce’s successor with Kelce still playing. He drafted Peters successor with Peters still playing. Howie talked after the draft about how he wants Markel Bell to learn from Lane Johnson.

The Eagles did a ton of work on OTs for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. They wanted options in case things didn’t fall right. It felt like this is the position they focused on more than any other.

They did bring three WRs with first round grades in for visits.

Makai Lemon
Jordyn Tyson
Omar Cooper

Tyson was likely a medical visit. He ended up going 8th overall. Had he fallen, they probably wanted to be comfortable with him. Cooper ended up going 30th. He would likely have been an option if they moved back. They had Lemon as a Top 15 pick and did go through scenarios where he might fall. With his lack of ideal measurables, the Eagles saw a realistic chance where he could fall to a spot where they could afford to trade up for him.

There was better WR depth than OT depth so if the grades were the same, I think they would have gone OT. It is easier to find good receivers than good blockers.

While the Eagles may have wanted an OT, Howie is good at sticking to his board and trusting the months of work and research that goes into it.

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Speaking of OL, some of you mentioned Myles Hinton and Cam Williams after yesterday’s piece. Hinton is a complete mystery. He never got on the field last year. He spent the bulk of the season on IR, which meant he couldn’t practice. We know Jeff Stoutland felt strongly about him, but Stout also loved Matt Pryor. Hinton has NFL potential so it will be interesting to see how he does this summer.

Williams also spent most of the season on IR. He did get to play in the regular season finale. While he showed some promise, he also showed key issues. He was effective as a pass blocker based on length and size rather than skill and athleticism. That’s not a winning formula unless you have special size/length like Markel Bell.

Hinton and Williams were both sixth round picks. They face an uphill battle to make the roster, let alone be key role players.

Jordan Mailata
Landon Dickerson
Cam Jurgens
Tyler Steen
Lane Johnson
Fred Johnson
Markel Bell
Drew Kendall
Willie Lampkin

I think those nine guys have the best chance of making the roster. I think rookie Micah Morris might go on as well. He’s got more size at OG than Kendall or Lampkin and the Eagles love big OL.

I hope Hinton and Williams each take big steps forward this summer. If they look really good then Howie would have the luxury of possibly trading someone. We saw flashes from both guys last summer. They need to show real improvement and more consistency this time around. Both could be excellent practice squad candidates. Maybe one of them could develop into the swing tackle for 2027. The Eagles would love to save money and have a young swing tackle instead of paying a Fred Johnson type of player.

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Jimmy Bama wrote about Drew Kendall.

He could be the top interior backup this season.

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Replacing Lane

Posted May 16th, 2026 | 2 Comments »

Back in 1998 the Eagles had the eleventh pick in the draft. Part of me wanted Plaxico Burress, the huge, dominant receiver from Michigan State. But the Eagles offensive line had been an issue for years and the guy I really wanted was Florida State LT Tra Thomas. He was big, long, athletic and had great feet. He had faced elite competition and thrived. He checked all the boxes. The Eagles did take Thomas and he manned LT from 1998-2008. He went to three Pro Bowls and helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl in 2004. The OL was built around him for a decade.

In 2009 the Eagles pulled off a steal when they traded for LT Jason Peters from Buffalo. Peters manned the spot from 2009-2020. He was even better than Thomas. Peters was All-Pro twice and voted to seven Pro Bowls. Peters has a chance to be a Hall of Fame player. He was truly a special OL.

The Eagles drafted Andre Dillard in 2019 to replace Peters. Didn’t happen. Dillard was a great pass blocker in college, but simply couldn’t handle the NFL. The Eagles took a flier on some dude named Jordan Mailata in 2018. He was a massive, athletic rugby player from Australia. Mailata was able to handle the NFL and got some LT starts in 2020. He took over the position full time in 2021.

From 1998-2025 the Eagles have had outstanding LT play. There were a couple of years where injuries got in the way, but that is an amazing track record. You rarely see that kind of succession at a key position. Now the Eagles are faced with the task of replacing Lane Johnson, their star RT since 2013. Johnson will be a Hall of Fame player. He’s been All-Pro multiple times, been voted to the Pro Bowl six times and has played in three Super Bowls, winning two of them. He is one of the greatest RTs in league history.

The Eagles are not likely to find a player who will come close to Johnson’s level. He is a unicorn. You thank the Football Gods that you got a chance to watch him play for your team for so long, but replacing him will mean a step down. That’s just reality.

I keep seeing comments or tweets or lines in articles about how the Eagles were supposed to draft Johnson’s replacement, but didn’t do it. They actually did.

We spent a lot of the pre-draft period talking about OT prospects. The Eagles wanted to draft an OT in the first round. When a highly rated WR fell, they went up and got him, changing plans on the fly. Howie Roseman and his staff had worked through scenarios where someone fell and the team went away from OT. They were prepared to pivot because they had options outside the first round that they liked. Markel Bell is the option they chose. Listen to Howie talk about him.

The Eagles spent pick 68 on Bell. You don’t spend that pick on a guy you think will be Fred Johnson. Jordan Mailata is only 29 so you’re not worried about replacing him. The Eagles think Bell can be their RT of the future.

The draft is all about probability. Guys in the first round have the best chance of success because they were the best prospects. Even with that, there are no sure things (see Andre Dillard). The odds go down each round, as the level of prospects do. But the league is filled with players from all over the draft who did succeed. Brian Dawkins was the 61st pick in 1996. He went to the Hall of Fame. Bell was pick 68. The Eagles don’t need him to be a HOF. They just want to find a good RT of the future.

I get the fact there are doubters on Bell. I think part of the issue is they are focused on what he is and not what he might become. He played LT at Miami. Well, Johnson played LT at Oklahoma. He didn’t learn RT until he got to the NFL. Bell cross-trained at RT some during his college years and then in his pre-draft training. We just haven’t seen him play there on a regular basis. Bell is only 21. He has a ton of upside. It is up to Bell and the coaching staff to mold him into a starting NFL OT.

Bell is an interesting guy. He was a no-star recruit coming out of high school. Rather than go to a small college, he decided junior college was the better option for him so that he could develop. That’s pretty crazy self awareness for a high school kid. Bell got good hands-on coaching and developed into a star player at the JUCO level. After his two years there, the big boys came calling. They saw a massive guy with tons of potential. Bell chose Miami, where he would once again get very good coaching.

He started five games in 2024 and then was the full-time LT in 2025. That was 16 games. Bell didn’t allow a single sack. QB Carson Beck threw 467 passes so that’s a lot of drop-backs. Bell played at a high level and was also second team Academic All-American.

The OL who succeed in the NFL have size, athleticism, skill and brains. Bell checks all of those boxes. His athleticism isn’t on the same level as others because of his massive size. He’s not going to run or jump like others, but he has good feet and moves well. The Eagles see him as a player with all the right raw tools to become a good starting OT. They know he needs time to develop. They know he needs coaching. They are hoping that working under Johnson and Mailata will help him to maximize his potential.

This pick wasn’t made lightly. Bell visited Philly. They went to visit him in Miami. They saw him at the Senior Bowl. For him to be one of their passion players tells you that they feel strongly about him as a person and prospect.

If you watch those clips and don’t see the potential, I don’t know what to tell you. It is absolutely there. That doesn’t mean Bell will reach that potential. He could turn out to be a bust. There simply are no guarantees when it comes to draft picks. I don’t think he will bust because he’s got tremendous size and seems like he’s driven. He wants to succeed. Bell isn’t coming to the NFL thinking he’s a finished product. He knows he will have to work hard in the weight room, classroom and on the field. When you’ve got the right attitude and his size and physical skills, there is a real chance for success.

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