Now, with the Philadelphia Eagles trimming their roster after a rough 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots, Jason Kelce isn’t watching from a distance. Jason Kelce made his support clear for a pair of undersized linemen fighting for their NFL futures, and the reason why says as much about his own career as theirs.
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“This is Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin, 2 undersized centers. One is playing guard to show his versatility, and the other is probably the only offensive lineman under 6 feet to play in the NFL in this millennium. They are absolutely smashing a double-team block 8 yards downfield!! Size is important, but nothing beats leverage!” Jason Kelce posted on X.
Will Shipley’s touchdown run against the Patriots looked easy on the surface. Take the handoff, walk it in. But if you actually watched what happened up front, you’d know the real story wasn’t Shipley at all. It was two guys nobody expects to be dominating in the trenches: Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin. The former is 6’4″ and 308 pounds, while the latter is 5’11” and weighs less than 300 pounds.
On that opening scoring drive, Kendall and Lampkin combined to push back Patriots’ Isaiah Iton like he never had a chance. That’s what opened the lane for Shipley to get to the end zone untouched. Sure, Markel Bell was doing work too, holding down the right side, and Jake Majors sealed things off on the left. But the interior push, the part that actually mattered most, came from Kendall and Lampkin.
Lampkin also had another highlight from the game. In the first quarter, the 5-foot-11 center stopped the Patriots nose tackle with help from Jake Majors and Markel Bell, allowing Shipley to add an 18-yard gain.
Jason Kelce was watching closely too. Given his own history as an undersized center who turned doubters into believers for over a decade, it makes sense he’d be paying attention to these two right before roster cuts. Interestingly, Kelce has also worked with Lampkin briefly, mentoring him for the Ravens preseason game this year.
And the good news for both players is that the writing on the wall looks positive. Multiple reports have Kendall and Lampkin penciled into the Eagles’ projected 10-man offensive line, alongside names like Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson, Markel Bell, Fred Johnson, and Micah Morris.
It hasn’t always been smooth for Lampkin, who was waived by the Rams as a rookie before Philadelphia scooped him up, and later spent time on injured reserve. But games like this one against New England seem to have quieted any doubts. People have been noticing, too.
Per PhillyVoice’s Jimmy Kempski, both Kendall and Lampkin have been promising. A Patriots insider was reportedly amazed at how Lampkin was “winning” in practice, especially because he is not the average height. Kendall seems to have proven to the Eagles staff that he can play at all three interior spots. Kempski even believed that he could be a stater.