"We lost a lot of wisdom and leadership, with Tra and Jon not being here, but I think we replaced that with a lot of youth and athleticism . . . I feel I'm a leader on this offensive line, and on this team," Jackson said.
What the group lacks, he said, is "a matter of chemistry."
How do they get that?
"Practice, bonding, getting to know each other," he said.
Last year's line did an excellent job protecting McNabb - it allowed just 23 sacks, 12 in the last 12 games. Given that the Birds threw the ball a franchise-record 606 times in 2008, the ratio of 27.3 pass plays per sack was the best in team history. But one of the reasons the Eagles threw so much was that they didn't run very well. Brian Westbrook, bothered by knee and ankle problems that required offseason procedures, averaged just 4.0 yards per carry, his lowest figure since 2005.
The team really struggled in short yardage, especially early in the season, when the inability to gain a yard when they had to probably cost the Birds games against Dallas and Chicago. Nobody wants to say it out loud, out of deference to the long years of toil and sacrifice Thomas and Runyan put in, but the feeling is that the younger tackles will get better leverage and be more dominant in run blocking. Of course, they ought to be helped by the addition of experienced fullback Leonard Weaver.
"Not to slight Tra and Jon, but I think that we should have the ability to run the ball a little better this year," Herremans said.
Shawn Andrews, coming back from a year that started with a struggle against depression and ended with a Game 2 back injury, vows to convince opponents who might doubt he is as mean and combative as Runyan.
"I'll drive 'em over to their coach," said Andrews, a two-time Pro Bowl guard who was a dominant right tackle in college at Arkansas.
Asked how he will be different from how Runyan was last season, Andrews didn't want to diss his predecessor.
"I can't answer that," he said. "Not the way I want to."
He had no trouble, though, defining his expectations for the newly formed group.
"When healthy," he said, "we are going to kick some butt." *
For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.
