The Eagles are one of a few teams lucky enough to enter the 2019 season with not many questions on their roster.
The one issue they are currently dealing with, however, is health — and there is a chance it could be exploited on Sunday against the Washington Redskins.
The Eagles enter Sunday's Week 1 game with their starting offensive line not taking a single snap together in the preseason. Right tackle Lane Johnson didn't play at all in the preseason. Projected starting right guard Brandon Brooks didn't take any team reps in training camp, and if he takes any before Sunday, they will come for the first time on Wednesday in practice. If Brooks can't go, the team will start Halapoulivaati Vaitai in his place. Vaitai has taken reps all summer at right guard but has never played a regular season game in the NFL at the position.
While the Eagles' offensive line is loaded with talent, it is very possible it takes them some time to get into a groove at play at the level many expect them too.
The challenge for the Eagles is that Washington is not the defensive line you want to be rusty against.
Washington comes to Philadelphia on Sunday with one of the best pass-rushing defensive lines in the NFL. Their starting three of Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Matt Ioanddis combined for 20.5 sacks in 2018. All three finished in the top 50 in total pressures among interior defensive linemen last season. Combined they finished with 98 quarterback pressures, with Ionnidis leading the way with 36.
Washington having three strong interior linemen is not ideal for the Eagles. Although Jason Kelce is one of the best centers in the NFL, the weak points of the Eagles' line on Sunday will be at guard, with either Seumalo (the worst player on the Eagles' offensive line), Vaitai (first game at guard in the NFL) or Brooks (first game back since suffering a torn Achilles). The trio of Allen, Payne and Ionnidis could cause some serious issues for quarterback Carson Wentz.
Washington could present some problems for the Eagles along the edges as well. Kerrigan remains one of the best pass rushers in the league, finishing with 13.5 sacks last season and 61 pressures. Kerrigan has had plenty of success against the Eagles in his career, totaling 11.5 sacks and 20 quarterback hits in 16 career games against the Eagles. The 20 quarterbacks hits are more than he has against any other team in his career.
Kerrigan will be going up against Lane Johnson, which is the player the Eagles would want to match up against Washington's best pass rusher. Johnson, however, is coming off of a preseason where he didn't play a single snap and admitted the knee issue that sidelined him could linger into the season.
Opposite Kerrigan will be some combination of Ryan Anderson and rookie Montez Sweat. Both are matchups that left tackle Jason Peters should be able to handle. Anderson has two sacks in two years in the NFL. Sweat could be a bit of a wild card, however, as he totaled 23.5 sacks over his last two seasons in college against quality SEC competition. Still, in his first NFL game, you have to hope that Peters would be able to handle Sweat.
Overall, however, there is no denying that there is one way and one way only for Washington to pull off a major upset in Week 1 — and that is make life really tough for a potentially rusty for Carson Wentz.
It will be up to the Eagles' offensive line to stop that from happening.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
