Not only is every depth chart released before the first preseason game unofficial, most coaches act like discussing it violates some sort of convention.
But the first Eagles depth chart is stranger and less official than them all, mostly because four different players are listed as the starting right guard.
Four.
You’re a starter*, Andrew Gardner. You, too, John Moffit. Matt Tobin and Julian Vandervelde, you’re up, too.
Lest you think Chip Kelly is trying to play mind tricks with anybody but the players themselves, the Eagles listed in bold letters on their official release that the depth chart for the team’s preseason opener Sunday vs. the Colts was compiled by the team’s public relations staff.
Coaches -- even ones like Kelly who put themselves in charge of everything -- are busy doing other things.
Tobin started seven games at right guard last year. Moffit walked away from football in 2013 but reportedly went to rehab to address personal issues and signed with the Eagles in June. Gardner played in all 16 games for the Eagles last year and started six times at right guard while Vandervelde has been with the team since 2011 as a backup interior lineman.
Allen Barbre, who got hurt in the opener last year and missed the rest of the season, is alone atop the depth chart at the left guard spot vacated when Kelly cut Evan Mathis earlier this summer. With Lane Johnson and Jason Peters seemingly solidified at the tackle spots, Barbre’s move inside should be permanent. As for the other guard, well, we’ll see what happens Sunday and what the team’s media relations staff thinks in the coming weeks.
