Every Eagles Offensive Starter Declined in 2025 — What That Means for 2026

Every Eagles Offensive Starter Declined in 2025 — What That Means for 2026

Here's a stat that should alarm every Eagles fan heading into the 2026 season: of the 11 offensive starters in 2025, only one — DeVonta Smith — maintained or improved his level of play compared to the previous season. Every single other offensive player on the roster regressed. Some due to injury. Some due to age. Some due to coaching decisions. But the trend across the board is undeniable, and it's heading in the wrong direction at the worst possible time.

The Offensive Line Went From Historic to Mediocre

The Eagles' offensive line went from being called "one of the best of all time" by multiple former NFL general managers in 2024 to producing a below-average run blocking unit in 2025. The reasons are straightforward but deeply uncomfortable for a franchise that built its entire offensive identity on dominating the line of scrimmage.

Lane Johnson missed significant time with injuries and is now on the precipice of retirement — this may genuinely be his final NFL season. Landon Dickerson's body is breaking down after years of physical play, and the toll has been visible on the field. Cam Jurgens recently revealed on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast just how much the tush push took a physical toll on the linemen's bodies over time. Jurgens himself was still working his way back from offseason back surgery and was never fully himself last year.

Jordan Mailata went from being graded as the best player in football regardless of position by Pro Football Focus in 2024 to merely "really good" in 2025. That might not sound like a decline, but when your entire running game depends on elite offensive line play, the drop from historically great to just good is enough to collapse the system. And that's exactly what happened — when the running game stopped working, the passing game couldn't compensate, and the razor-thin margin of error the Eagles operated within disappeared overnight.

Stoutland's Departure Tells You Everything

Jeff Stoutland didn't leave the Eagles because he wanted a change of scenery or a new challenge. He left because the organization is pivoting to a wide-zone rushing scheme under the new Shanahan-influenced coaching staff, and Stoutland's entire coaching philosophy — power runs, duo blocks, pin-and-pull schemes, gap concepts — no longer fits the direction Philadelphia wants to go.

Stoutland knew his linemen better than anyone in the building. He knew their strengths were in a phone-booth, physically dominant style of play that punished defenses at the point of attack. When the organization decided to go Shanahan, Stoutland essentially became the coaching staff's version of Jalen Hurts — someone whose strengths didn't align with the new system.

The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. The Eagles lost their legendary offensive line coach for the exact same reason they might lose their quarterback: an organizational insistence on changing what was already producing wins.

The Aging Roster Reality

Beyond the offensive line, the problems compound at nearly every position. Saquon Barkley's historic 2024 campaign was always going to be impossible to replicate, but the 2025 decline raises the classic running back durability question: did the massive touch count take its toll? AJ Brown battled chronic knee and hamstring issues while growing increasingly frustrated with the offensive scheme. Dallas Goedert's blocking declined so significantly that it became a genuine liability in the run game — a problem the Eagles hadn't dealt with before at the tight end position.

Every one of these players is another year older heading into 2026. And with the exception of Tyler Steen, who wasn't a starter during the 2024 championship season, every returning offensive starter won the Super Bowl two years ago. The Eagles are essentially trying to run it back with a team that peaked in February 2025.

What Roseman Must Do This Month

Howie Roseman has publicly acknowledged that the offense needs to get younger and that the Eagles must start investing premium draft capital on that side of the ball. Philadelphia hasn't used a first-round pick on an offensive player since selecting DeVonta Smith — an eternity in NFL roster-building terms. That drought ends this month.

Expect the Eagles to target an offensive tackle to begin the Lane Johnson succession plan, and potentially a tight end from what scouts are calling one of the deepest tight end classes in recent draft history. The rebuild won't happen overnight, but the clock is ticking louder than ever. This offensive core has maybe one more year of competitive viability before the contracts become unmovable anchors and the talent erodes beyond the point of recovery.

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