Last year with the season on the line and the Birds headed for a showdown with the division-rival Dallas Cowboys, Eagles starting center Jamaal Jackson was sidelined with a knee injury, so backup center Nick Cole became the starting role. It turned into a disaster.
Cole couldn’t handle the adjustments needed for the Cowboys blitzes. You won’t read this many other places but it’s extremely important that the center be as knowledgeable of the adjustments to blitzes as the quarterback because the center is required to make adjustments to the defensive front prior to the snap of the football.
The Eagles only had one center who could make those adjustments and his name was Jamaal Jackson. Unfortunately Jackson was injured and Cole had to take over at the center position.
It allowed Dallas to wreak havoc in the Eagles offensive backfield. Numerous offensive players on the team have said the offensive line didn’t have any confidence in Cole being able to get the offensive line in the correct adjustment to pick up the Cowboys blitzes.
This may have been what Donovan McNabb was talking about when he said “we showed our youth”. It wasn’t the receivers who were the problem, it was inexperienced Cole making the calls at the center position.
Cole is also a poor snapper in the shotgun formation. The exchange between Cole and new quarterback Kevin Kolb has resulted in the football being on the ground numerous times during this year’s training camp. The quarterback exchanges at the Flight Night were a disaster.
Jackson and McNabb used to have meetings each week where they went through the blitz pickups so they were on the same page. Jackson was brilliant at making the correct calls, but although Cole can do the job physically, he can’t master the mental requirements of the job.
Kolb has even made the comment that Nick Cole has a lot on his mind before the snap of the ball. Yes he’s definitely got a lot on his mind, it’s more like he’s got too much on his mind before the snap of the ball. The Eagles can’t start the season with Nick Cole as the starting center.
It’s as simple as that. If I were a defensive coordinator getting ready to play this current Eagles offense with Nick Cole at center, I would come at Kevin Kolb with every blitz I could think of and wreak havoc on Kolb and this potentially explosive lineup.
The only solution I see is signing a veteran center like Kevin Mawae, who could come in and make the calls until Jackson gets healthy and takes over.
Good article and spot on G,
This is one the biggest areas of concern for this Eagles team for 2010 and beyond (For Jackson is not getting younger even when he returns from injury) This past years draft was also an opportunity lost when with all the draft picks the Eagles had, didn’t use on in the middle rounds to secure a young center to at least start grooming for the future… (there were 3-4 good solid centers availalbe in the 3rd/4th4/5th rounds like JD Walton,M Tennant,E Olsen,T Larsen)
It tells us we better have a direct line to Jeff Garcia
That entire line is suspect. There’s not one person on there I feel comfortable with. Herremans might be the only solid player but he’s always hurt. Not only do we play against many of the better QBs this year we also play against teams that have some very good pass rushers…. we all know the cowboys, giants and redskins, but outside the division we got Freeney, Peppers, Mario Williams, Jared Allen and Ray Edwards and the 49ers and titans aren’t slouches. I am afraid for this line and Kolb’s life.
Cole is too short and fat with short arms. The ball gets stuck in between his legs because of his thunder thighs. I hope this will not be another oops fiasco like the punt returners against GB a couple years ago.
I do believe Peters will have a much better season.
BigE – What a surprise, your obsession with weight comes up again. We’re talking about a center here – they’re supposed to be short and fat. Would you perfer offensive linemen to be skinny and have petit, compact thighs? Show me a skinny center in the league. It’s been well documented that it’s Cole’s mental lapses and lack of smarts that keeps him from playing well at center. Not his size or build. Though, I do agree that center may prove to be the weakest spot on the roster until Jamal returns….
Schiller How many centers in the league are 6′ 350 Lbs. I saw the ball get stuck between his thighs on snaps. It’s well documented that the obvious escapes Reid at least once every season and this may be his mental lapse and lack of smarts that prevents him from having an adequate back up plan.
Actually he has a slightly different build than most centers in the league. Many of them are taller and/or weight less. I’m not sure how this impacts his performance but I just wanted to point that out.
” The quarterback exchanges at the Flight Night were a disaster” SCHILLER WHERE WAS THE PRESSURE OF THE BLITZ AND DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS ON FLIGHT NIGHT. i DON’T THINK THERE WERE ANY.
6 foot and 350 is not the norm for centers in the league.
Here’s a list of the centers in the NFC. Take a look at their height and weight
http://espn.go.com/nfl/players?position=c&league=nfc
I’ve been saying this for the longest….They did not have a competent player to fill in when Jackson went down, yet told us “Cole will do fine”
This FO need to be held accountable for their continue incompetence.Mawae is better than anything we roll out there and I don’t want to hear the crap about how he played with the jets, because it can’t be worse than what cole exhibited when he was molested against the Cowboys…EAGLES FO….WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
SCHILLER QUOTE ” they’re supposed to be short and fat.” Maybe in the SPL Schiller’s Portly League
NFC East Centers 6’4″ 297
6’4 318
6’4″ 288
6’6″ 318
6’3″ 307
6’3″ 313
Don’t these teams know that centers are supposed to be shorter and fatter . What idiots.
Same Old Big Red. Blind spot about a position of need going into the season concealed by a belief that he knows better than anyone in football. PR, S, FB, WILL…on and on. And we should look at the DT’s and MLB’s in our division as well as the DE’s. Not only will the calls at the line be shaky, he’ll get beat right up the middle to get in Kolb’s face before he can think about starting the motion to throw the football. I could be wrong, but I think this kid, although our best option, needs to improve immediately, or else fail with McGlynn for a while instead. At least with McGlynn there is a chance for improvement as a natural Center.
This is McNabb’s fault!
KEVIN MAWAE!!!! Somebody call Kevin Mawae please.
Nsidious….failing with Mclynn for while is not an option. This front office told us we are not in a rebuilding year and should have addressed a glaring problem stemming from te last games of the season.
Did they learn anything from the last 2 Dallas spanking of our Eagles? Are we anywhere near the Dallas team that handled on front as if they were a bunch of little girls?
Is this team better than the stinking Cowboys? The answer is no
We use to be….
What happened?
Offensive Line Rankings of the NFC East as of today
#1) Cowboys
#2) Giants
#3) Redskins
#4) Eagles
Our offensive line is pretty sad right now. Maybe they’ll get it together but who knows.