One of the reasons that the Eagles offense has played so well in the preseason is that the offensive line has played well. Let’s take an updated look at some players.

* Jason Peters is a man on a mission. He is out to prove that he was the key to the left side of the line and not Evan Mathis. Peters is in the best shape of his life and he’s playing as well as I’ve ever seen. This is very encouraging.

* I like what I’ve seen so far from Allen Barbre. He may not be Evan Mathis Jr., but he’s played well at LG as both a run blocker and pass protector.

* Andrew Gardner is the least effective of the starting linemen, but he’s better than the other options at RG. Gardner has had some good moments.

DeMarco Murray's first carry as an Eagle. Great job by Andrew Gardner at second level. https://t.co/8X6W0TjzvZ — Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) August 24, 2015

Gardner looks like he can be an effective starter, especially in this system. He’s certainly not a long term answer, though. His biggest issue is that he plays too upright at times. That limits his power as a run blocker and it gets him off balance in pass protection. When he bends his knees and plays with good pad level, Gardner can get the job done. He is at his best on the move. Despite being a big guy, he is a good athlete with impressive movement skills.

* John Moffitt has been disappointing so far. I knew he would be rusty, but I didn’t expect him to be this rusty. He does have flashes of his old self. The more he plays, the more we should see of that guy. The preseason finale will probably be huge for him. Moffitt should play most of that game. He will need to show he’s worth keeping on the roster.

* I have been pleasantly surprised by Matt Tobin as the backup LT. He played that spot in the past and looked okay, but he’s had a good showing so far. Tobin won’t be mistaken for Jason Peters any time soon, but he’s been solid as a pass blocker. I would like to see him get some reps at LG. Tobin just seems more comfortable on the left side of the line. He was a non-factor in the RG competition, but you can see the guy has talent when watching him play LT in games.

* David Molk was up and down when facing some of the Ravens bigger DL. I still think he should be the backup C. Molk has very good movement skills and he will battle like heck when run blocking a DT or NT.

* I don’t know what to make of Julian Vandervelde. He looks good when allowed to fire off the ball and attack DL. He looks overwhelmed when pass blocking at times. He really struggles to anchor on some plays. Powerful DL will just drive him back to the QB. I don’t think I would keep him on the final roster, but the coaches seem to like him.

* Dennis Kelly is maddening. He has the potential to be a starting OT in the NFL, but he doesn’t play to that potential. He’s big. He has good feet. Kelly is a good enough athlete. He just doesn’t do the little things well. If you could combine him and Tobin, you might have a solid starting OL. There are some plays when Kelly is very impressive. There just aren’t enough of those. It wouldn’t shock me to see him stick around for this season, but I doubt he’s back next summer. If the light hasn’t gone on at this point, it never will.

* I haven’t yet re-watched the third string OL from the Ravens game. Just based on what I saw when watching the game live, they looked better than they did in the Colts game. You saw some holes on run plays. Kevin Monangai didn’t run for 87 yards based purely on his ability.

I just hope one or two of those guys shows enough that they can be good practice squad material.

_