O-Line Priority Remains: How the Eagles Are Navigating the Draft Without Jeff Stoutland

The odds strongly suggest the Eagles will address the offensive line in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft later this month.

GM Howie Roseman is already on record as saying Philadelphia must start repopulating the offensive side of the football after several years in which the defense got most of the attention with the organization’s premium picks.

Beyond that, the offensive line remains a foundational piece for the Eagles. The search for Lane Johnson’s eventual successor has been a multi-year pursuit, and this year’s draft class features eight potential first-round offensive linemen — roughly 25% of the opening round.

On paper, the numbers point squarely toward the O-line.

Complicating matters for draft prognosticators, however, is the departure of longtime offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who left the organization after 13 seasons this offseason.

Stoutland’s renowned “critical factors” had long dictated what the Eagles looked for in their offensive linemen.

“It’s an odd situation because their entire OL infrastructure, from scouting on up, was developed specifically with Stout in mind,” a former Eagles personnel executive told Eagles On SI. “He had an unprecedented stranglehold on that position group, so it’s going to change quite a bit moving forward.”

That change may not be immediate, according to the same source.

“Not so much this year, because they were deep in the process well before Stoutland left,” the exec said.

Roseman himself addressed the transition before the NFL Combine in February.

“I don’t think it’s a secret how close I am to Stout — not was, but am,” Roseman said. “How much I appreciate the relationship, the process that we go through. I could probably have 50 stories on our draft process and how we went through them. I miss him. I care about him. But obviously, there’s a change there, and we’ll continue to move on.”

Stoutland’s “critical factors” did not leave with him; they have now been fully absorbed into Roseman’s own evaluation toolkit.

“I feel like we have a really good group of people here. I feel confident in our ability to evaluate,” the GM added.

Stoutland has been replaced on two fronts: Chris Kuper, who received a strong recommendation from his former boss in Denver, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, as the new offensive line coach. Ryan Mahaffey, a longtime Sean Mannion lieutenant, has been hired as run game coordinator.

Roseman doesn’t expect the organization’s core approach to shift dramatically.

“That’s a question that I ask. Is it a priority position?” Roseman said rhetorically. “Always.

“I think we’re always looking for linemen on both sides of the ball. That’s always been the strength of this team, and I’m proud of that. So we’ll continue to do that. That’s definitely a core philosophy that we have here. That won’t stop."

A Click Of Change?

Mar 1, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Utah offensive lineman Caleb Lomu (OL33) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Eagles’ pre-draft 30 visits have heavily tilted toward offensive linemen so far. Among the notable prospects are potential first-round tackles Caleb Lomu (Utah), and Max Iheanachor (Arizona State), as well as guard Vega Ioane (Penn State).

Day 2 and Day 3 options include Penn State’s Drew Shelton, Oregon’s Isaiah World, Boston College’s Jude Bowry, Miami’s Markel Bell, and Memphis’ Travis Burke.

All of those players are projected as offensive tackles at the next level except Ioane, who is in the conversation as one of the top prospects in the entire draft as an interior option.

The group shows a wide range of measurables and traits, reflecting some evolution in the Eagles’ thinking.

“I would say that on both sides of that, maybe there’s misconceptions — maybe about what Stout was looking for and maybe about what we’re looking at now for Sean,” Roseman said. “It’s so hard to find really good players on the offensive line that you’re certainly not going to discount somebody because they’re a really good athlete but maybe not 340 pounds.

“And you’re certainly not going to take someone off your board because they’re really firm at the point of attack and they can anchor. So I think that really we’re looking for a lot of the same things that — as a shout-out to Stout — the critical factors that we’ve always been looking for.”

Roseman did hint at “maybe "a click" of change to better fit new Mannion’s projected emphasis on stretch running concepts, which favor players with movement skills and athleticism.

“I think the way that we want to build our offensive line and how it wants to look from left to right — based on the players that we have at certain spots to complement them — hasn’t changed,” the GM said. “Will there be maybe a little bit more emphasis on movement and athleticism? Maybe a click. But at the same time, that also doesn’t discount really good players who are maybe known more for displacing defenders in the run game, because there’s always a place for those guys in our offense.”

While the post-Stoutland era brings new voices and slight adjustments in emphasis, the franchise’s foundational belief in dominating the line of scrimmage — on both sides of the ball — continues unchanged. For an Eagles team looking to return to contention, that philosophy may prove to be the most important constant of all.