Life Without Kelce

The Philadelphia Eagles offensive line will look very different without future hall-of-famer Jason Kelce manning the middle for the first time since 2010.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher provided intel on how the interior o-line will shape up as well as the Avonte Maddox release.

GETTY IMAGES: Cam Jurgens is expected to replace future hall-of–famer Jason Kelce at center.

Avonte Maddox

Adam Caplan: “In this case, he has missed so much time. How do you justify paying him $6.5 million? It’s about cash, cap is not a factor.”

Geoff Mosher: “Nickel is sort of like the running back of defense where your lifespan isn’t long. You are playing two different positions, covering or tackling. You are smaller than a linebacker but have to tackle nearly as much because you are in the box, so you get a lot of guys banged up very easily…if I have an opportunity to bring back Avonte Maddox on a one-year deal for not a whole lot of money, I would do it…but this draft is full of corners who can play inside and outside.”

Interior O-Line

Caplan: “We fully expect (Cam) Jurgens to be their center, but it doesn’t mean they won’t sign anyone for depth purposes. The way it was explained to me over the years when talking to agents is the Eagles are pretty much insistent when they look at free agency or the draft that they want multi-positional interior linemen. They don’t want a guy who can just play guard or just play center.”

Mosher: “They’ll bring in guys who compete, but I don’t think they are going to make a major move. We heard from some people who spoke with the Eagles at the combine and said that they felt they are more likely to draft more guys at that position than signing a name free agent.”

Cam Jurgens

Caplan: “As an offensive player told us over the last year or two, Kelce got them out of so many plays, a bad look or something that didn’t look right. Cam has just not played enough football at offensive line. He is smart and super athletic, but there are growing pains. It’s hard to imagine there won’t be a drop-off here.”

Mosher: “In Kelce’s first five or six years, he struggled against the 330-pound nose tackle until he learned how to use leverage or technique. Jurgens has almost the same body.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.