In the offseason, we will look at some players who are new to the Philadelphia Eagles or have already joined the team, but we may not know them well yet. Today we take a look at defender Sua Opeta.

Previous “Eagle Player Reviews” breakdown

Jaylen is injured • Joe Flacco • Aylin Sipos • Jack Driscoll
Jordan Myrata • Marcus Epps • Quetz Watkins • Travis Fulham
John Hightower • David Taylor • Kryon Johnson • Sean Bradley

Why should we review Sua Opeta? Well, it’s July 4th, and no one will read this anyway. Moreover, he performed well in the first game of the NFL last season.

As a quick review of Sua Opeta’s history, he was a failed free agent in 2019. He participated in a training class during his rookie season and then was called to the 53-man roster at the end of the season (he did not participate in any games) . In 2020, Opeta initially landed on the training team again, but was activated for a short time in the first and second weeks, and then stayed on the 53-man roster for most of the season until the bulging disc that needed surgery landed. On IR over months.

Opeta was forced to start two games against the Giants in Weeks 7 and 10. This was his first NFL game, with the exception of several dunks against the Steelers and Ravens. Check out his season snapshot count:

From Weber State University, Opetta has some interesting sports indicators, especially his 40 years old, and some explosive characteristics (vertical jump, long jump and bench press).

In his first start against the Giants in Week 7, he played against LG next to another extremely inexperienced player in LT’s Jordan Mailata. At the beginning of his 10th week, he was at LG again, this time next to Jason Peters.

After an injury forced him to play in the second half, he also played against the Browns at RG in Week 11. In this practice, I watched all of Opeta’s games against the Giants and the Browns.

The first outstanding positive factor is his athletic ability as a pull driver. He got a key block in the Boston Scott TD long-distance race (again, he is LG here):

another example:

How about another one:

Generally speaking, he does a good job of getting into the second level and blocking linebackers. Like here:

Or like here, out of the double folder:

I was also a little surprised because of his knowledge of blitz and stunts, and the way he worked with Mailata, Peters and Kelce, passing the ball to each other. The next game came to the fore in this regard. Watching him push the lightning-like linebacker, for example, “You are blocked by LT”, then he easily picks up the edge impactor and loops inside:

In the screen game, he did a good job of screen cover, and he has enough athletic ability to make key blocks on the open field, just like the safety here:

In terms of pass protection, Opetta has seen a lot of Leonard Williams, because the Giants want to take advantage of what they think does not match. But in most cases, Opeta maintained its advantage against Williams. In addition to this hold call, Williams was able to use Opeta after putting him on roller skates.

Another obvious pass sprint failed below, when he was defeated fairly cleanly at a very fast speed in a blitz.

But again, for a player who gets his first real game action, the content below is much more than the two gifs above.

Overview

One of the glimmers of hope that so many offensive forwards fell last season is that we saw some young substitutes for the first time. In particular, the performance of Jordan Myrata and Nate Herbig far exceeded anyone’s expectations, and both players helped themselves in the important roles they might play in the future.

I believe Opeta has played well enough in his two or more games, and it deserves some optimism.

When you look at the Eagles’ offensive line depth chart, players like Opeta don’t seem to have much room to make the roster:

He is a player worthy of the roster, and the Hawks earned more than their share in the replacement winger trade during training camp. I believe it makes sense to trade Opeta (or some other winger to make room for Opeta on the roster).

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