Jamon Brown's Experience Could Help Eagles' OL
Major repairs aren't an option heading into Week 2 of the NFL season but better Band-Aids are and the Eagles may have found one in veteran guard Jamon Brown, who arrives fresh off the Chicago Bears' practice squad.
Once a third-round pick of the then-St. Louis Rams out of Louisville, the 6-foot-4, 335-pound Brown has started 47 of 60 NFL games in stints with the Rams, New York Giants, and Atlanta. He started nine of the 10 games he played for the Falcons last season.
And that's a long way from Nate Herbig, the second-year pro who came into Sunday's opening loss at Washington with three career snaps after being an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2019.
Herbig played all 68 against the WFT and held up OK. According to ProFootballFocus.com, Herbig was graded No. 43 for the week when it came to OGs, doing a somewhat solid job in pass protection but failing to move the pile when Philadelphia did decide to go to the running game.
The book on Brown is the same old story with many modern O-linemen in that he's got solid physical gifts but still struggles with technique issues into his sixth NFL season. Despite Brown's size, he's regarded as a better pass protector than run blocker, much like Herbig performed in Week 1.
The experience alone should give Brown a leg up on Herbig and Matt Pryor, who seems to have fallen out of favor after a summer in which he shuttled between right guard as the potential replacement for the injured Brandon Brooks, right tackle as the stand-in for the hobbling Lane Johnson, and finally left tackle for the injured Andre Dillard before the Eagles convinced Jason Peters to return there with a little extra guaranteed money.
Sunday's opponent, of course, is the Rams, who possess the best interior defensive lineman in football and the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Donald. Even All Pro-level players like Brooks don't typically look very good against Donald so any combination of Isaac Seumalo, Herbig, Pryor, or Brown isn't going to help Carson Wentz's sleep schedule this week.
In the longer-term, however, Brown's experience could be something that becomes valuable if Jeff Stoutland can get him up to speed quickly
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Monday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SportsMap Radio. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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