A Healthy Green Bias: Too Soon to Celebrate on Andrews

Shawn Andrews started out in his career in Philadelphia in style and ended it to the sounds of celebration from the fans at his release. The first-round draft pick and two-time pro-bowl offensive lineman was so popular originally, that the Eagles fans voted him to the 75^th Anniversary Team, meaning that he was considered the best Eagle right guard of all time. But he got injured. Then he got injured again. And again. And again. He played a grand total of two games in the last two years he was under contract in Philadelphia. Given this level of contribution and the salary he was being paid, there’s no question as to why both the fans and the Eagles’ staff wanted to just move on from him.

What we want, however, and what makes the most sense doesn’t always coincide. Andrews got paid way too much for way too little, and if you look only at his situation without considering other factors then his release is a no-brainer. Consider, though, that the Eagles’ offensive line now contains almost no depth at all. At guard, the Eagles have Todd Herremans for one spot while Stacy Andrews and Max Jean-Gilles compete for the other. At tackle, the Eagles have a solid pair in Jason Peters and Winston Justice. At center, since Jamaal Jackson won’t likely be healthy for the start of the season (and perhaps he won’t ever be back to 100%), Nick Cole will move from his starting spot at right guard to take over the center position (despite his struggles switching over at the end of the 2009 season).

What’s left outside of those 6 players? One 4^th round pick, one 5^th round pick, two 7^th round picks and an undrafted acquisition, with an average experience level of barely over two years. I admit that it’s not fair to judge the quality of the Eagles’ depth on their drafted rounds (both Jamaal Jackson and Nick Cole were undrafted), but several of these players, like King Dunlap, have had opportunities and have looked meager. In the 2009 season, not one of expected starters stayed healthy for the entire season so 6 starting-caliber-linemen (7 if you include Jackson) is not going to cut it. Are we expecting these guys to step up and be starting-capable backups? On the Eagles’ unofficial depth chart, King Dunlap and Stacy Andrews are the only listed second-stringers who aren’t starting somewhere else (I don’t count Mike McGlynn at center since he is just holding the spot warm for Jackson’s return). Dunlap left a lot to be desired when he got his opportunity.

Would it have been such a bad idea to keep Shawn Andrews as a backup until the Eagles get a chance to replenish their ranks? It doesn’t appear like they have big plans for his salary. I’ll happily concede that Shawn Andrews’ durability (for NFL standards, anyway) reminds me of Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Unbreakable, but the man can play both the tackle and guard positions and when he plays, he dominates. The only option likely left to add depth is through the draft, but with this draft being so strong in talent, the Eagles don’t want to be going into it looking for needs. They want to go into it looking for the best players. Now it seems they need to go in looking for offensive linemen, defensive ends, and safeties.