September 29, 2015
The Eagles didn't just place kicker Cody Parkey on season-ending injured reserve this week. They also lost Andrew Gardner for the season with a foot injury.
As we are all well aware, this past offseason the Eagles released both of their 2014 starting guards, Evan Mathis and Todd Herremans. They did this despite being the only team in the only team in the NFL not to have drafted an offensive lineman over the last two years. Here's a chart of how many offensive linemen each team in the NFL has drafted over the last three years.
| Team | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | TOTAL |
| Rams | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Seahawks | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Bengals | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Vikings | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Patriots | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Colts | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Broncos | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 49ers | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Bears | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Chiefs | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Giants | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Jets | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Titans | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Redskins | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Ravens | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Bills | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Cowboys | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Lions | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Jaguars | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Dolphins | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Raiders | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Cardinals | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Panthers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Browns | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Packers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Texans | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Saints | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Falcons | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Chargers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Steelers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The NFL average during that span is 4.125 drafted offensive linemen per team. Because of their failure to add youth to the mix along their OL, the Eagles do not have much in the way of quality depth. Gardner may be the least painful loss of the starting offensive linemen for the Eagles, but their depth will now be tested.
The Eagles signed Julian Vandervelde for the 300th time (a team record, probably) to fill the roster spot, and Matt Tobin is likely to take over as the starter at RG.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
