There are two new linebackers and three new defensive backs. There’s a new running back, a new wide receiver and two new offensive linemen. And, of course, there are two new quarterbacks.
The Eagles have undergone a complete overhaul since last year.
OK, almost complete.
There’s one position group on the Eagles that escaped Chip Kelly’s wild offseason overhaul. One area on the field that remains intact not only from last year but also from the year before.
The Eagles will have at least 10 new starters in 2015 but none on the defensive line.
Cedric Thornton, Fletcher Cox and Bennie Logan are together again for the third year. There’s been monumental change all around them, but the three beasts on the defensive line remain.
"That's the thing, you've got all of us back, even a lot of guys in the second group are back, and that's given us the chance to grow together,” Cox said. “I feel like we’ve already grown together so much and the longer we stay together the more we’ll grow.
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“We joke around, we have fun, we enjoy being together, but when we get on the field, we just get to work, and we’re all trying to out-work each other. We've got three young guys that are just trying to make a name for ourselves.”
Cox has been starting since the middle of 2012, his rookie year. Moving him into the starting lineup ahead of Derek Landri — Derek Landri? — was one of the first moves Todd Bowles made after replacing Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator.
When 2013 began, Cox and Thornton were starting at end in Bill Davis’ 3-4 along with nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga. Eight weeks into the season, Logan replaced Sopoaga, and the trio was complete.
They've started every game since.
There are eight starters from the last day of the 2013 season who project as starters on opening day next month in Atlanta.
Three of those eight are on the defensive line.
Cox, Thornton and Logan take a streak of 25 consecutive starts together into the 2015 regular season. The only other current Eagles who have started that many games in a row are Riley Cooper (38), Jason Peters (33) and Connor Barwin (33).
The fourth member of the defensive line, pass-rush specialist Vinny Curry, has never started an NFL game but had nine sacks last season and is in his fourth year. He arrived in the same 2012 draft that brought Cox.
The Eagles believe their defensive line is among the best in the NFL, and the time they’ve spent together has created a bond among them that they believe makes them even stronger.
"All about accountability,” Thornton said. “Not being satisfied with last year. I feel like we communicate better and we're definitely relying on each other a little bit more. I trust those guys to make the play and they trust me to make the play.
“That just comes with playing together over time. … It’s a brotherhood. We bonded on the field and off the field. You're always going to play hard for your brothers. There's a good opportunity for us to be great. The sky's the limit.”
An SI.com story didn’t rank the Eagles as one of the top 10 defensive lines in the NFL. A ranking on the FirstStopFantasy website had the Eagles with the No. 17 defensive line in the league this year — closer to the bottom than the top. Bleacher Report ranked all the defensive lines going into 2015 and didn’t include the Eagles in the top 10. Website FanSided also failed to include the Eagles in their top 10.
But last year, the Eagles ranked fifth in the NFL in rush defense, allowing just 3.74 yards per carry, and they were second in sacks.
Clearly, this line is a real strength of the team.
“You don't worry about it,” Kelly said. “We don't spend a whole heck of a lot of time when we're making defensive personnel meetings on the defensive line just because you have so many veterans in those positions, and they're young. That's the other thing. It's not like they're long in the tooth.
"Ced and Fletch are the older guys in the group. Bennie is just going into year three. That group as a whole is very consistent in terms of their production on a day-in-and-day-out basis, and it's just kind of something you can always count on — that our D‑line right now, barring any type of injury, is in pretty good shape.”
Cox, Thornton and Curry all arrived here during the Andy Reid/Howie Roseman administration. So consider this defensive line in large part one of Reid's last going-away presents before he left town.
“Going into year three together, we really understand each other and what each guy is capable of doing and how they play and how they're going to react to different things,” Logan said.
“This is our third year together and we understand what we can do. Now all we got to do is go out and play hard.”
Cox, Logan and Thornton all emphasized that as close as they are on the field, they’re even closer off the field.
They’re all about the same age — Logan is 25, Cox is 24 and Thornton and Curry are both 27. And they are inseparable.
“It's a brotherhood,” Logan said. “We play together, we take care of each other. These guys are like my brothers. I love these guys the same way I love my brothers. I’d do anything for these guys, just like I'd do anything for my brothers.”