Well its taken a couple of days for me to get the time. I did my roster analysis of the offense (scroll down) a few days ago. So not to leave out the defense, off we go:
DL (10 total, 5 DE, 5 DT) Brief word before the positions. This is same number of D-lineman we carried last year. However, unlike the O-Line, there are several new faces this year. As usual, expect the Eagles to dress 8 DL each game, and creating alternating DT & DE rotations (They don't usually swap out 4x4, but 2x2 and sometimes 1-to-1.
DE - Jevon Kearse, Trent Cole, Darren Howard, Juqua Thomas and Victor Abiamiri. O.k. so the only "new" face is Abiamiri, our second round draft pick. But Kearse returns after missing 14 games last year with a knee injury. His effectiveness will go a long way to determining how effective our DE rotation will be. The Darren Howard at RE, Kearse at LE combo looked awesome early last season. Then Kearse went out, Howard played out-of-position some snaps and played too many snaps are wore down as the season progressed. This season, provided they all stay healthy, the two elder statesmen of the D-Line should be fine. Matter-of-fact, Trent Cole supplanted Darren Howard as the starter in TC this year, so his snap count should be manageable. Of course, for the amount of $$$ he's making, Howard is over-priced. If he could manage to play to the level of his compensation. We'd could have a monster line. The final member of the regular rotation will be Juqua Thomas (who followed Kearse here from Tennessee). JT has a stellar preseason, and that new contract hasn't slowed the man's motor. I am looking for good thing from Juqua this year - he's going to make it hard for the coaches to keep him off the field. Abiamiri is a spot player this year. He's insurance in case of injury, but it really here to learn the position and then take over one of DE slots that will almost assuredly be vacated by Kearse or Howard (or both) during the 2008 offseason.
DT - Mike Patterson, Broderick Bunkley, Montae Reagor, Kimo Von Oelhoffen, LaJuan Ramsey. Two new faces here. One real new, as Kimo just joined the team in place of the injured Ian Scott (who signed in the offseason but never played a snap in TC or preseason). This rotation gives the Birds a mixture of youth and experience (in Kimo's case, significant experience - he's 36). The bonus as I see it: Reagor and KVO may give up some age/weight to the departed Sam Rayburn and Darwin Walker, but they have both recently been part of Super Bowl winning teams. They know what it takes to get things down, and can teach the young guys (Patt is 3rd year player, Bunk and LaJuan 2nd year, rookie FA Jeremy Clark is on the practice squad) a thing or two and provide a steady veteran presence in the middle. In Kimo's case he'll primarily be called on the stuff the run. Ramsey has been hobbled by a high ankle sprain most of TC and preseason and will likely start the season not dressing for games. Once he's good to go (say a few weeks into the season) expect him to suit up and spell one of the "old" fellas for a few games. This will keep the vets fresh for the long campaign.
LB (6) - Takeo Spikes (TKO), Omar Gaither (OG), Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley, Matt McCoy and Pago Togafau. Lots of question marks about this group. Obvious TKO is being relied on as our stalwart LB, even though he's brand new to the system. OG is going to good in the middle. He's got the speed Trotter used to have, though not the size. OG is more of sideline-to-sideline guy, whereas Trot had become a tackle-to-tackle guy, or perhaps a tackle-to-hashmark guy if he slanted that way. That said, he's and last year, he played the WILL position. One thing he did flash last year - a propensity to make plays - something our LBs sorely lacked before he showed up. TKO is a play-maker as well, so look for the LBs to contribute a bit more on the batted passes, INT scope. The real question is going to be their susceptibility to mis-direction, screens, etc. Gocong is essentially a rookie and learning the SAM, Stewart Bradley is a more natural SAM, but is a genuine rookie. There's going to be some bumps along the way, but these guys have the talent, its a matter of getting the confidence, being comfortable and just playing. As for McCoy, well, the Eagles like to talk about how well he graded out in the first half of last year, but he's small, quick guy and while he can tackle ok, he hasn't shown an ability to really stick his head in there and knock out a runner or an ability to stay healthy for a season. Since he's not a starter anymore, expect to him dress and play special teams, and also, perhaps join in the certain LB rotation packages when the Birds need a LB to help in pass coverage. As for Pago, no clue fellas. The Eagles had to place him on the 53-man roster because they claimed him off waivers from the Cardinals. He's a fireplug type (5'10", 250), who can run. But can he play? Not sure we're going to find out this year, though he could dress and make an appearance on special teams. I just don't think it will be early in the season - perhaps once McCoy wears out....
DBs (9 total - 5 CB, 4 S)
CBs - Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Will James, Joselio Hanson, Nick Graham. A bit of consternation in the Eagle-land when the Eagles pulled plug on the Rashad Barksdale (6th rnd pick) experiment in favor of undrafted rookie free agent Nick Graham. Both players flashed some ball-hawk in the preseason, but neither is really going to be counted to play much this year. Will James is our clear #3 CB, even though he boasted about being a starter and going to the ProBowl, he did not do enough (IMHO) to justify playing in front of Sheldon Brown. Lito remains our best play-making CB and has really developed into one of the top corners in the NFL.
S - Brian Dawkins, Sean Considine, Quintin Mikell, J.R. Reed. This group is a bit less steady that in years past. Dawk is going to be fine, as always, and we really need to remain pretty much ageless this year. Last year he responded from an o.k. season in 2005 to a stellar Pro-Bowl-nod-earning 2006. We need that to continue, because the Eagles did not have a chance to draft his replacement this past April. He's one of the best-ever, and my all-time favorite Eagle. Say no more - it will be a sad, sad day when Dawkins hangs them up. I just hope it doesn't happen for a few more seasons - and I can't wait to see him snatch another Brett Favre pass in the opener.
The biggest area of concern is clearly his battery mate Considine. Much was made about him bulking up in the off-season in order for him to be able to stand-up and lay some wood from the SS position. Uh....doesn't look like that is going to happen. He bounces off big TEs and I haven't seen him lay out a single WR. SC simply does not instill any fear in opposing receivers over crossing the middle. None. Quintin Mikell and J.R. Reed both have huge special teams roles for the Eagles. Mikell is our ST captain and J.R. returns after a injury and jaunt around the league to (hopefully) provide our return game that spark its been missing ever since he got injured between the '04-'05 seasons. The primary question in my mind: Can "Q" turn his play up another notch and supplant Considine. One thing Mikell can do is HIT, and it appears that Def. Coord. Jim Johnson is creating some schemes/packages to get Mikell onto the field. With Reed and Mikell both dressing, I practically expect more contribution to the Birds from our back-ups safeties than from our starting SS.
Showing posts with label defense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label defense. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Mini-Camp is Over. So What did we learn?
This would've been posted yesterday, but Misawa lost its Internet access last night. Man, nothing is more frustrating that having your lifeline severed. Onto el blog: As most writers have taken care to remind us, we didn't learn much from seeing a bunch of grown men pretend to push each other around on a grassy field in shorts and no pads...but Eagles mini-camp did provide some positive signs for us Birdwatchers.
The Eagles managed to flood the rookies' and 2nd-year players' (like Ramsey, Bunkley, Gocong and Bloom) heads with a bunch of plays. This is a good thing. Confuse the hell out of them now, and maybe by August some of this stuff will click.
Garry Cobb, the ex-Eagles LB who follows the team quite closely has been doing an excellent job tracking mini-camp, in my opinion. This article saying the team is continuing to push the younger offensive guys. Of course, instant fan-favorite Nate Ilaoa, the Rumblin' Hawaiian, made his first appearance in Philly. Man, more than just having a "hometown" bradda on the team, I really want to see him make the team.
This is what GCobb had to say: "The Hawaiian kid Nate Ilaoa doesn't look like a football player but he's a good athlete who has quick feet without much speed. The other thing you see is that this kid can catch. The kid seems to be very comfortable running screens. (well, duh, he only did that about 20 times/game at UH). I could see him being hard to tackle because he's built low to the ground and there's not a lot there to hit."
What else did we learn?
Jevon Kearse needs to gain weight. 240 is WAY too light Jevon, start hitting the weight and lay off the bike. Note to NovaCare staff, open up catering service with Pats Steaks. Actually, the best part is the Kearse looks ready to go, knee-wise. And that is an encouraging sign. He needs to have some dedicated to him to make sure he's got the necessary weight to make it through the season.
Speaking of weight, it looks like perhaps defensive coordinator finally has wised up and realized that having a little heft to the front seven isn't such a bad thing, saying "I just felt at times we were small at tackle and linebacker, especially." You don't say? Was it the screams and heckling from the fans? or the pleas and cries from the some of the munchkins we rolled out on D last year who got roasted game after game. Yeah giving up 208 yards rushing in a playoff game sort of takes the mustard out of the "well-Indy-did-it" argument.
All I can is, its about goddamn time.
The Eagles managed to flood the rookies' and 2nd-year players' (like Ramsey, Bunkley, Gocong and Bloom) heads with a bunch of plays. This is a good thing. Confuse the hell out of them now, and maybe by August some of this stuff will click.
Garry Cobb, the ex-Eagles LB who follows the team quite closely has been doing an excellent job tracking mini-camp, in my opinion. This article saying the team is continuing to push the younger offensive guys. Of course, instant fan-favorite Nate Ilaoa, the Rumblin' Hawaiian, made his first appearance in Philly. Man, more than just having a "hometown" bradda on the team, I really want to see him make the team.
This is what GCobb had to say: "The Hawaiian kid Nate Ilaoa doesn't look like a football player but he's a good athlete who has quick feet without much speed. The other thing you see is that this kid can catch. The kid seems to be very comfortable running screens. (well, duh, he only did that about 20 times/game at UH). I could see him being hard to tackle because he's built low to the ground and there's not a lot there to hit."
What else did we learn?
Jevon Kearse needs to gain weight. 240 is WAY too light Jevon, start hitting the weight and lay off the bike. Note to NovaCare staff, open up catering service with Pats Steaks. Actually, the best part is the Kearse looks ready to go, knee-wise. And that is an encouraging sign. He needs to have some dedicated to him to make sure he's got the necessary weight to make it through the season.
Speaking of weight, it looks like perhaps defensive coordinator finally has wised up and realized that having a little heft to the front seven isn't such a bad thing, saying "I just felt at times we were small at tackle and linebacker, especially." You don't say? Was it the screams and heckling from the fans? or the pleas and cries from the some of the munchkins we rolled out on D last year who got roasted game after game. Yeah giving up 208 yards rushing in a playoff game sort of takes the mustard out of the "well-Indy-did-it" argument.
All I can is, its about goddamn time.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Let's Talk Some Eagles!
Well, the forums are abuzz with word from Adam Schefter over on NFL Network that the Eagles have signed former Colts DT Montae Reagor to a 3yr/$8mill deal.
The acquisition isn't going to make Eagles fans ga-ga. I mean, Reagor is a 285-lb pass-rushing disruptor-type; not the giant 300-lb+ run-stuffer that a lot of us would love to have and feel, quite correctly I might add, this team needs. That said, here is why the signing makes some sense: Reagor fits the Eagles system. Now I don't like a system that seems allergic to big DT the way Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson's system seems to be, but Reagor would've been a solid contributor to the Colts SB run last year if he hadn't gotten injured.
We can debate the pro/cons of DT weights all day long, it doesn't change the fact that the Birds are going to scheme with an "undertackle" (a "lighter" guy like Mike Patterson or Reagor) and a somewhat larger DT who's primary function I would like to believe is to consume blocks at the point of attack. (I use the quotes, because the Eagles don't have a true big-body at DT, Brodrick Bunkley and Sam Rayburn are the largest - listed at 300 & 303 respectively).
Here is what the signing does in an instant: It makes some folks expendable. With them under contract, look for the Eagles to make some draft day moves and I think we may just see a name like Rayburn or Walker fly the nest to another team in return for a Day 2 pick.
This is how the DT situation shakes out after the signing:
Patterson and Bunkley still have to thought of as being our starters, we NEED them to be. Reagor, Rayburn, Darwin Walker and LaJuan Ramsey round out the DT currently on the team.
6 names. for 5 positions. Even a Cowboys fan can do that math...
I can see it breaking out like this with Patterson, Bunkley, Reagor and Ramsey being our top 4 with both Walker and Rayburn's names being bandied about as trade-bait. Not that I think Ramsey is all-that, but I think the way the other two have peaked or plateaued Ramsey got the better upside...(who knows maybe that makes HIM more likely to get traded). AR likes him his linemen though, and even though the Eagles "only" invested a 6th round pick in Ramsey, I think he showed enough promise last year (before a late season fade) to warrant somewhat higher expectations this year.
Could both Walker AND Rayburn go with the final spot getting filled in by someone else? I guess its possible, but I'm not sure JJ would want to trust 3 or his 4 primary DT slots to two second-year guys and Reagor....I think the competition Raegor's addition brings to the bunch is a good thing. Ramsey cannot sit on his hands, neither can Walker or Rayburn, all those dudes better bring it, cause if the Eagles don't move on of them on draft day, then you can bank on a move later on.
The acquisition isn't going to make Eagles fans ga-ga. I mean, Reagor is a 285-lb pass-rushing disruptor-type; not the giant 300-lb+ run-stuffer that a lot of us would love to have and feel, quite correctly I might add, this team needs. That said, here is why the signing makes some sense: Reagor fits the Eagles system. Now I don't like a system that seems allergic to big DT the way Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson's system seems to be, but Reagor would've been a solid contributor to the Colts SB run last year if he hadn't gotten injured.
We can debate the pro/cons of DT weights all day long, it doesn't change the fact that the Birds are going to scheme with an "undertackle" (a "lighter" guy like Mike Patterson or Reagor) and a somewhat larger DT who's primary function I would like to believe is to consume blocks at the point of attack. (I use the quotes, because the Eagles don't have a true big-body at DT, Brodrick Bunkley and Sam Rayburn are the largest - listed at 300 & 303 respectively).
Here is what the signing does in an instant: It makes some folks expendable. With them under contract, look for the Eagles to make some draft day moves and I think we may just see a name like Rayburn or Walker fly the nest to another team in return for a Day 2 pick.
This is how the DT situation shakes out after the signing:
Patterson and Bunkley still have to thought of as being our starters, we NEED them to be. Reagor, Rayburn, Darwin Walker and LaJuan Ramsey round out the DT currently on the team.
6 names. for 5 positions. Even a Cowboys fan can do that math...
I can see it breaking out like this with Patterson, Bunkley, Reagor and Ramsey being our top 4 with both Walker and Rayburn's names being bandied about as trade-bait. Not that I think Ramsey is all-that, but I think the way the other two have peaked or plateaued Ramsey got the better upside...(who knows maybe that makes HIM more likely to get traded). AR likes him his linemen though, and even though the Eagles "only" invested a 6th round pick in Ramsey, I think he showed enough promise last year (before a late season fade) to warrant somewhat higher expectations this year.
Could both Walker AND Rayburn go with the final spot getting filled in by someone else? I guess its possible, but I'm not sure JJ would want to trust 3 or his 4 primary DT slots to two second-year guys and Reagor....I think the competition Raegor's addition brings to the bunch is a good thing. Ramsey cannot sit on his hands, neither can Walker or Rayburn, all those dudes better bring it, cause if the Eagles don't move on of them on draft day, then you can bank on a move later on.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
How I would Fix the Eagles Defense
There are many question floating around about what needs to be done to address the defensive deficiencies that cropped up this year with the Birds...was it our D-Line? or LB, and over-rated secondary? Well, I honestly don't know. Every area showed flashes of promise and big splashes of incompetence, so figuring out the right formula is not easy.
Diving right in:
1. At its most basic, I believe Coordinator Jim Johnson needs to adapt his defensive philosophy a bit. For too long the Eagles have coveted speed above all else. The result is a smallish defensive that relies completely on technique and leverage but one that routinely gets pushed around and out of position too easily...Moreover, a defense that was grossly deficient against the run, and as a result consistently had trouble getting off the field in some of our most critical games. As for the adaptation....please stop making your DTs weigh-in...I don't like to believe it, but part of the reason our First Round Draft Pick Broderick Bunkley got in the dog-house was his weight....Look JJ, some beef in the middle IS NOT A BAD THING...consider what happened to your quick, light (290-range) DTs this year - THEY GOT THROWN ABOUT...perhaps if someone weighed as much as the OG they went against we wouldn't have our D-Line getting pushed around so much. Solution: Come to realize that it is the combination of speed AND size AND talent that creates great Defenses (see Baltimore, Chicago and San Diego for assistance), not just adequate ones (see Philly and Indy for details).
2. We need to add another play-maker at the LB position. The Eagles got diddly-squat from its LB corps all year. It was pathetic. OG (Omar Gaither) emerged as a real "baller" but other than that lone bright spot....very little contribution from the linebackers this year. That includes one of my favorite Eagles leaders, Jeremiah Trotter...Trot lost a step this year...I thought during the 6-10 season that Trot and Dawk were trying to do too much and that hurt the D...This year, its clear that Trotter's game is severely limited. He is a downhill MLB, who can flow to one side of the field and that's about it....He is not a sideline to sideline guy, he ain't chasing anyone down on the backside anymore, and he is a dreadful liability in pass coverage (witness the fact that when Shawn Barber went out with an ankle injury in the N.O. Playoff game, Trot was forced to stay in on passing down and Payton whipped him like a rented mule with a 3rd string TE Billy Miller). Solution: Go get a FA Linebacker. I don't care what one (Briggs, Thomas, Edwards, London Fletcher, somebody) but there are some good ones available and this groups needs a proven commodity. We do not need to hear that last year's third-round pick, Chris Gocong, a college DE who JJ is converting to OLB is the answer to our play-maker needs...
3. Resign S Quintin Mikell and CB William James and DRAFT the heir apparent to Brian Dawkins. The Eagles have a LOT of free agent DBs this year. Rod Hood and Michael Lewis are goners, they believe they are starters and they are not likely to get that chance in Philly. 'nuff said. As for the two others, I believe that both can be contributors to the D. Mikell has already proven his worth, but I don't think he labors under any illusion about being a starter...Mikell was a valuable role-player and special teams captain, it'd be nice for the ST to have some continuity, plus if both Mikell and Lewis depart, we get real thin at safety real fast...as for Will James, my jury is out on him, didn't really see a whole lot from him, but he's got decent size and he was a starter in this league. I think he could be a reasonable insurance policy, and think about it: he was a mid-season pick-up and then injured...If he stays healthy, we would benefit from having a decent nickel-CB who is already well-versed in the system. As for the safety position, we need to realize that despite having a Pro-Bowl and All-Pro caliber season our Hall-of-Fame-caliber safety Brian Dawkins is 33. We've got him for two more seasons, but with only Brian and Sean Considine on the roster for next year, NOW is THE TIME to go out and draft Dawk's heir apparent...According to Mel Kiper, this year is an exceptionally deep draft for safeties....so lets go get ourselves one...My strategy: if it looks like the safety you want won't be there when the Birds first round # will be called, see about dangling a player to move up...We used OG Artis Hicks and Hollis Thomas in that capacity last year, draft day moves....could Sam Rayburn be in that position this year?
4. Cut Dhani Jones, Matt McCoy, Jerome McDougle. Those are easy calls. None of them deserve a spot on the roster...some folks would argue to keep Matt for special teams, I guess I could live with that, but truthfully I am of a mind to cut our losses, admit failure on the 2nd rounder and move on....if we need a suicide-squad guy how about Tank Daniels or Roper...
5. Shift some the D-Linemen. In addition to adding some bulk, I would do the following, use Rayburn to move up somewhere on draft day or to acquire an additional second day pick. We already have his replacement with the team: Lajuan Ramsey. Let Darwin Walker move outside some (not all the time but give him some reps there)....I am tired of having every DE on the team weigh less than 275 lbs....Whatever happened to having a DE with some size??
What about Free Agent Juqua Thomas? I think JT played himself onto another team, but in the good way. I just don't see how, with all the hefty contracts we already have on the D-Line that the Birds will be able to keep Juqua...people took notice this year (if we did, they did) and he will get offers. Perhaps we could restructure Jevon's contract to keep his buddy Juqua around...perhaps....Either way - my starting D-Line next September goes like this: Darren Howard, Mike Patterson, Broderick Bunkley, Jevon Kearse...Trent Cole is my next guy in, but I think using him primarily on passing down would really help keep him fresh...He will be our fastball guy if Juqua finds greener pastures. My depth guys: Walker, Ramsey and a new guy, dunno who (maybe a FA find like we had with JT a couple of years ago, maybe Juqua, who knows)
Well there you have it, five things I would do to improve the Eagles Defense....
Diving right in:
1. At its most basic, I believe Coordinator Jim Johnson needs to adapt his defensive philosophy a bit. For too long the Eagles have coveted speed above all else. The result is a smallish defensive that relies completely on technique and leverage but one that routinely gets pushed around and out of position too easily...Moreover, a defense that was grossly deficient against the run, and as a result consistently had trouble getting off the field in some of our most critical games. As for the adaptation....please stop making your DTs weigh-in...I don't like to believe it, but part of the reason our First Round Draft Pick Broderick Bunkley got in the dog-house was his weight....Look JJ, some beef in the middle IS NOT A BAD THING...consider what happened to your quick, light (290-range) DTs this year - THEY GOT THROWN ABOUT...perhaps if someone weighed as much as the OG they went against we wouldn't have our D-Line getting pushed around so much. Solution: Come to realize that it is the combination of speed AND size AND talent that creates great Defenses (see Baltimore, Chicago and San Diego for assistance), not just adequate ones (see Philly and Indy for details).
2. We need to add another play-maker at the LB position. The Eagles got diddly-squat from its LB corps all year. It was pathetic. OG (Omar Gaither) emerged as a real "baller" but other than that lone bright spot....very little contribution from the linebackers this year. That includes one of my favorite Eagles leaders, Jeremiah Trotter...Trot lost a step this year...I thought during the 6-10 season that Trot and Dawk were trying to do too much and that hurt the D...This year, its clear that Trotter's game is severely limited. He is a downhill MLB, who can flow to one side of the field and that's about it....He is not a sideline to sideline guy, he ain't chasing anyone down on the backside anymore, and he is a dreadful liability in pass coverage (witness the fact that when Shawn Barber went out with an ankle injury in the N.O. Playoff game, Trot was forced to stay in on passing down and Payton whipped him like a rented mule with a 3rd string TE Billy Miller). Solution: Go get a FA Linebacker. I don't care what one (Briggs, Thomas, Edwards, London Fletcher, somebody) but there are some good ones available and this groups needs a proven commodity. We do not need to hear that last year's third-round pick, Chris Gocong, a college DE who JJ is converting to OLB is the answer to our play-maker needs...
3. Resign S Quintin Mikell and CB William James and DRAFT the heir apparent to Brian Dawkins. The Eagles have a LOT of free agent DBs this year. Rod Hood and Michael Lewis are goners, they believe they are starters and they are not likely to get that chance in Philly. 'nuff said. As for the two others, I believe that both can be contributors to the D. Mikell has already proven his worth, but I don't think he labors under any illusion about being a starter...Mikell was a valuable role-player and special teams captain, it'd be nice for the ST to have some continuity, plus if both Mikell and Lewis depart, we get real thin at safety real fast...as for Will James, my jury is out on him, didn't really see a whole lot from him, but he's got decent size and he was a starter in this league. I think he could be a reasonable insurance policy, and think about it: he was a mid-season pick-up and then injured...If he stays healthy, we would benefit from having a decent nickel-CB who is already well-versed in the system. As for the safety position, we need to realize that despite having a Pro-Bowl and All-Pro caliber season our Hall-of-Fame-caliber safety Brian Dawkins is 33. We've got him for two more seasons, but with only Brian and Sean Considine on the roster for next year, NOW is THE TIME to go out and draft Dawk's heir apparent...According to Mel Kiper, this year is an exceptionally deep draft for safeties....so lets go get ourselves one...My strategy: if it looks like the safety you want won't be there when the Birds first round # will be called, see about dangling a player to move up...We used OG Artis Hicks and Hollis Thomas in that capacity last year, draft day moves....could Sam Rayburn be in that position this year?
4. Cut Dhani Jones, Matt McCoy, Jerome McDougle. Those are easy calls. None of them deserve a spot on the roster...some folks would argue to keep Matt for special teams, I guess I could live with that, but truthfully I am of a mind to cut our losses, admit failure on the 2nd rounder and move on....if we need a suicide-squad guy how about Tank Daniels or Roper...
5. Shift some the D-Linemen. In addition to adding some bulk, I would do the following, use Rayburn to move up somewhere on draft day or to acquire an additional second day pick. We already have his replacement with the team: Lajuan Ramsey. Let Darwin Walker move outside some (not all the time but give him some reps there)....I am tired of having every DE on the team weigh less than 275 lbs....Whatever happened to having a DE with some size??
What about Free Agent Juqua Thomas? I think JT played himself onto another team, but in the good way. I just don't see how, with all the hefty contracts we already have on the D-Line that the Birds will be able to keep Juqua...people took notice this year (if we did, they did) and he will get offers. Perhaps we could restructure Jevon's contract to keep his buddy Juqua around...perhaps....Either way - my starting D-Line next September goes like this: Darren Howard, Mike Patterson, Broderick Bunkley, Jevon Kearse...Trent Cole is my next guy in, but I think using him primarily on passing down would really help keep him fresh...He will be our fastball guy if Juqua finds greener pastures. My depth guys: Walker, Ramsey and a new guy, dunno who (maybe a FA find like we had with JT a couple of years ago, maybe Juqua, who knows)
Well there you have it, five things I would do to improve the Eagles Defense....
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Weighing In on Philly's D
Lots of Philly writers have targeted the Eagles D's lack of size as a fundamental flaw in their system. Perhaps its true (I am leaning that way myself, I miss players like Carlos Emmons), and I cannot help but chuckle when Les Bowen writes things like: "You know those signs they have at amusement parks, setting a measurement for how big you have to be to go on a particular ride? There are Eagles scouts standing next to those lines, poised to sign anyone who is turned away," but there is something missing "from the mix" so-to-speak when assessing the current state of the Eagles defense. Yes, its true that the Eagles seem to have taken the throwback thing beyond jerseys and decided that a 70s-sized defensive line is the way to go when facing teams that routinely field offensive linemen in excess of 320lbs. (there is an argument to be made for speed and quickness to zip by these behemoths, but I am not going to make it here, plus when you get manhandled like we have been the past few weeks, it rings hollow).
It's something I cannot quite put my finger on...Its not just lack of confidence (that's an understatement) or lack of talent (although the erosion of talent at LB has reached the appalling stage) or lack of effort (when lineman cannot shed block ALL-NIGHT, I can only attribute that to not trying hard enough...getting pancaked or being out of position happens to everyone a few times each game (though with good defenses its usually only 1 dude, so it doesn't hurt as much))
The monumental collapse of the run defense (and thusly the whole defense) seems predicated on the near perfect alignment of all these negative factors, including a laissez faire attitude towards run defense....for instance
- You know, even when the Eagles we kicking ass, their run D was pretty soft...sure we had some good games, but as a general rule, good teams could run the ball on us. Bowen writes: "Watching the Colts' defense was a déjÀ-vu experience. Knowing their offense was going to score more than three dozen points while making it look easy, the Colts didn't sweat stopping Brian Westbrook." Its true, the Eagles D used to have (I hope they still to cling to the illusion) this imaginary mark of 17 pts....hold the opposition under 17 and you win (or so it was told) So when the Eagles offense was racking up points...it helped disguise a defensive weakness, no without an offense to stake us to big leads...you can bank on opposing teams testing the run early and often, because until the D mans-up to stop it, running on the Eagles is the new-old formula to breaking down the Birds..
- Do we have the personnel anymore to make Jim Johnson's schemes work? I dunno, doesn't seem like it...Lots of folks bashed the D-Line (and deservedly so) but this team has made it work before, this season in fact....both Tiki and Frank Gore were held in check....last year, basically the same group shut down LT...but it comes and goes spurts....and this latest spurt of bad and turned into a gusher....My beef is with how JJ is using his vaunted "rotation"....most of our DTs are "under-sized" (USC buds LaJuan Ramsey and Mike Patterson, both of whom I like, are listed at 290, Walker is right there too--I don't think he motors around like he used to). Rayburn plays lighter than his listed 303. Bunkley has decent size (306) but cannot seem to please the coaches enough to get on the field. (I heard one rumor that this was because he was too big for JJ's tastes)...
Now look, "undersize" Lineman are fine, when you have them coming off the edge, but when you gotta be tough in the middle and you play a 4-3, you cannot afford to start two smallish DTs and two speed rushing DEs....That is NOT what makes your D effective....We've a hard-nosed MLB in Jeremiah Trotter, but he needs to able to run free and slash to the ball-carrying....With Hollis Thomas gone, we don't have ANYONE who consistently occupies two offensive lineman...other teams simply draw up one-on-one blocking schemes and execute....and what you see it lineman and TEs snuffing out DEs and LBs on the edge, or simply pushing out of their lanes to allow to huge cutback holes....ITS PATHETIC....Jon Runyan explains here the danger of having a smallish D-line, and how it requires near perfect execution.
You cannot field a team of relative munchkins in this league and expect not to get beat up...yet the Eagles braintrust seems dead set on proving all of us "non-football" types wrongs...What do we know? Sitting in our laz-e-boys or playing football on Saturday afternoons...we know one thing, we the other team shows up with a bigger crew (especially when they got than one hard-core gym-rat who's like 230 and makes you wish you'd spend the past year in the gym), its going to be a long, bruising afternoon.
Can this team fix it? Being the eternal optimist when to comes to my Eagles, I want to say YES, YES They CAN!...show some heart, some toughness, some moxie...show SOMETHING so us fans can take heart and start cheering again....but this philosophy of speed or size is really haunting this team right now....how about a new philosophy...how about speed AND size....
It's something I cannot quite put my finger on...Its not just lack of confidence (that's an understatement) or lack of talent (although the erosion of talent at LB has reached the appalling stage) or lack of effort (when lineman cannot shed block ALL-NIGHT, I can only attribute that to not trying hard enough...getting pancaked or being out of position happens to everyone a few times each game (though with good defenses its usually only 1 dude, so it doesn't hurt as much))
The monumental collapse of the run defense (and thusly the whole defense) seems predicated on the near perfect alignment of all these negative factors, including a laissez faire attitude towards run defense....for instance
- You know, even when the Eagles we kicking ass, their run D was pretty soft...sure we had some good games, but as a general rule, good teams could run the ball on us. Bowen writes: "Watching the Colts' defense was a déjÀ-vu experience. Knowing their offense was going to score more than three dozen points while making it look easy, the Colts didn't sweat stopping Brian Westbrook." Its true, the Eagles D used to have (I hope they still to cling to the illusion) this imaginary mark of 17 pts....hold the opposition under 17 and you win (or so it was told) So when the Eagles offense was racking up points...it helped disguise a defensive weakness, no without an offense to stake us to big leads...you can bank on opposing teams testing the run early and often, because until the D mans-up to stop it, running on the Eagles is the new-old formula to breaking down the Birds..
- Do we have the personnel anymore to make Jim Johnson's schemes work? I dunno, doesn't seem like it...Lots of folks bashed the D-Line (and deservedly so) but this team has made it work before, this season in fact....both Tiki and Frank Gore were held in check....last year, basically the same group shut down LT...but it comes and goes spurts....and this latest spurt of bad and turned into a gusher....My beef is with how JJ is using his vaunted "rotation"....most of our DTs are "under-sized" (USC buds LaJuan Ramsey and Mike Patterson, both of whom I like, are listed at 290, Walker is right there too--I don't think he motors around like he used to). Rayburn plays lighter than his listed 303. Bunkley has decent size (306) but cannot seem to please the coaches enough to get on the field. (I heard one rumor that this was because he was too big for JJ's tastes)...
Now look, "undersize" Lineman are fine, when you have them coming off the edge, but when you gotta be tough in the middle and you play a 4-3, you cannot afford to start two smallish DTs and two speed rushing DEs....That is NOT what makes your D effective....We've a hard-nosed MLB in Jeremiah Trotter, but he needs to able to run free and slash to the ball-carrying....With Hollis Thomas gone, we don't have ANYONE who consistently occupies two offensive lineman...other teams simply draw up one-on-one blocking schemes and execute....and what you see it lineman and TEs snuffing out DEs and LBs on the edge, or simply pushing out of their lanes to allow to huge cutback holes....ITS PATHETIC....Jon Runyan explains here the danger of having a smallish D-line, and how it requires near perfect execution.
You cannot field a team of relative munchkins in this league and expect not to get beat up...yet the Eagles braintrust seems dead set on proving all of us "non-football" types wrongs...What do we know? Sitting in our laz-e-boys or playing football on Saturday afternoons...we know one thing, we the other team shows up with a bigger crew (especially when they got than one hard-core gym-rat who's like 230 and makes you wish you'd spend the past year in the gym), its going to be a long, bruising afternoon.
Can this team fix it? Being the eternal optimist when to comes to my Eagles, I want to say YES, YES They CAN!...show some heart, some toughness, some moxie...show SOMETHING so us fans can take heart and start cheering again....but this philosophy of speed or size is really haunting this team right now....how about a new philosophy...how about speed AND size....
Monday, November 20, 2006
A Formula Revealed. Can the Eagles Counter It?
As I wait for Space Rangers 2 to download to my computer via Stardock, I figure now is as good a time as any to expound on a few items that still linger in my growing concern for the Eagles, their season and their direction.
As for the Season...they are 5-5 after 10 games, and to be brutally honest, they deserve to be exactly where they are at. Good teams do not give up the type of plays that the Eagles have this year. They make more plays, don't routinely get hammered on special teams, and they don't revert back to pass-wackiness a game after running the ball effectively (and actually winning a game by doing it...
One of the posters on the Philly.com chat made an interesting observation: the Eagles have lost to three teams starting young or relatively inexperience QBs...The Bucs with rookie Gratkowski, the Jaguars with David Garrard, and now the Titans with Vince Young....In NONE of those game did the QB do anything more impressive than HAND THE FRACKIN' BALL to his running back and make about 2 or 3 scrambles and 2 or 3 passes in each game to keep the chains moving (which speaks our defense's disheartening inability to get off the field in key situations).
Where is the vaunted, fly-to-the-ball, turnover-causing, hard-hitting defense that we'd come to know and love. Has the game caught up to Jim Johnson's defensive schemes? How in the ever-loving FUCK can we lose to rookie QBs. Isn't our defense supposed to confuse the hell out them? Aren't we supposed to have this master blitz scheme to nail unsure QBs? Not getting to a mobile vet like Drew Brees all that much because Sean Payton implements a short-passing game plan is one thing...losing contain on a rookie QB who's primarily a running threat and doesn't look like he can scan the field all that well is inexcusable.
Yet the formula for beating the Eagles is surprisingly simple, and we've seen it repeated all too often of late, no matter how inexperienced or wet behind the ears the opposing QB. It goes something like this: run the ball a lot (knowing that eventually the Eagles will forget how to tackle) and call plenty of short passes to negate the Eagles pass rush. This formula seem overly simplistic but what it is aimed primarily to NOT ASK the QB to win the game. Piss-poor opposing teams (like the Bucs and Titans), armed with greenhorn QBs should not be able to dictate the style of play to us. As you know, for the most part our D did pretty well in each game, the Bucs won because Donovan gift wrapped not one but TWO TD to Ronde Barber, but they couldn't make the key plays necessarily to FORCE opposing team to abandon their conservative strategies. Part of that is slow starts by the offense (no need to take risks when the game is tight) but also this defense, for whatever reason, routinely gives up big third down conversions (Vince Young on the first drive of the game, Bruce G. on the last drive to set up the miracle FG).
I cannot remember a season in which I had so little faith in the Eagles D to close out an opponent. I fear that this is only going to get worse as the season reaches it toughest point. We'll face a couple of good veteran QB in the next two weeks: Peyton Manning and Jake Delhomme. The defense needs to snap out of it and start kicking some tail. I mean, we survived the 2002 AJ experiment primarily because the defense rose to the occasion. (we manhandled Kurt Warner and the Rams that year, winning 10-3, keyed by a Bobby Taylor INT return for a TD.
(don't get me started on INTs...evidently we blew not one but TWO potential INT TDs yesterday...another reason why we are getting beat by shlubs...we're not making them PAY for the mistakes that they DO make)
As for the Season...they are 5-5 after 10 games, and to be brutally honest, they deserve to be exactly where they are at. Good teams do not give up the type of plays that the Eagles have this year. They make more plays, don't routinely get hammered on special teams, and they don't revert back to pass-wackiness a game after running the ball effectively (and actually winning a game by doing it...
One of the posters on the Philly.com chat made an interesting observation: the Eagles have lost to three teams starting young or relatively inexperience QBs...The Bucs with rookie Gratkowski, the Jaguars with David Garrard, and now the Titans with Vince Young....In NONE of those game did the QB do anything more impressive than HAND THE FRACKIN' BALL to his running back and make about 2 or 3 scrambles and 2 or 3 passes in each game to keep the chains moving (which speaks our defense's disheartening inability to get off the field in key situations).
Where is the vaunted, fly-to-the-ball, turnover-causing, hard-hitting defense that we'd come to know and love. Has the game caught up to Jim Johnson's defensive schemes? How in the ever-loving FUCK can we lose to rookie QBs. Isn't our defense supposed to confuse the hell out them? Aren't we supposed to have this master blitz scheme to nail unsure QBs? Not getting to a mobile vet like Drew Brees all that much because Sean Payton implements a short-passing game plan is one thing...losing contain on a rookie QB who's primarily a running threat and doesn't look like he can scan the field all that well is inexcusable.
Yet the formula for beating the Eagles is surprisingly simple, and we've seen it repeated all too often of late, no matter how inexperienced or wet behind the ears the opposing QB. It goes something like this: run the ball a lot (knowing that eventually the Eagles will forget how to tackle) and call plenty of short passes to negate the Eagles pass rush. This formula seem overly simplistic but what it is aimed primarily to NOT ASK the QB to win the game. Piss-poor opposing teams (like the Bucs and Titans), armed with greenhorn QBs should not be able to dictate the style of play to us. As you know, for the most part our D did pretty well in each game, the Bucs won because Donovan gift wrapped not one but TWO TD to Ronde Barber, but they couldn't make the key plays necessarily to FORCE opposing team to abandon their conservative strategies. Part of that is slow starts by the offense (no need to take risks when the game is tight) but also this defense, for whatever reason, routinely gives up big third down conversions (Vince Young on the first drive of the game, Bruce G. on the last drive to set up the miracle FG).
I cannot remember a season in which I had so little faith in the Eagles D to close out an opponent. I fear that this is only going to get worse as the season reaches it toughest point. We'll face a couple of good veteran QB in the next two weeks: Peyton Manning and Jake Delhomme. The defense needs to snap out of it and start kicking some tail. I mean, we survived the 2002 AJ experiment primarily because the defense rose to the occasion. (we manhandled Kurt Warner and the Rams that year, winning 10-3, keyed by a Bobby Taylor INT return for a TD.
(don't get me started on INTs...evidently we blew not one but TWO potential INT TDs yesterday...another reason why we are getting beat by shlubs...we're not making them PAY for the mistakes that they DO make)
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