Who makes the roster: Defensive end
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Who makes the roster: Defensive end
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Our look at who's going to make the 53-man roster continues with ...
DEFENSIVE END
Of all the changes the Eagles made in the off-season, the most turnover came at defensive end. Darren Howard and Chris Clemons were jettisoned and Darryl Tapp, Brandon Graham, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Ricky Sapp were brought aboard. And then there’s the enigmatic Victor Abiamiri, who had microfracture knee surgery in February and will either remain on the Physically Unable to Perform list to start the season or land on injured reserve for the entire year.
The Eagles did a fine job keeping the severity of Abiamiri’s operation in-house. They didn’t want to tip off any teams that they were likely to take an end early in the draft, which, of course, they ended up doing.
Graham was their man and they moved up and got him with the 13th overall selection. As of this writing, there’s no reason to think the rookie will be bust and there are plenty of reasons to think he could be something special. He’s already won the starting left defensive end spot and could be the perfect foil to Trent Cole, who was worn down by double and triple teams by the end of the season.
Graham still has a lot to learn and there will be games when he’s manhandled by some of the larger right tackles in the league. But should become, at the very least, what Abiamiri was projected to be. The Eagles drafted two more ends in Te’o-Nesheim and Sapp, although Sapp appears to be better suited to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme.
When they selected Sapp in the 5th round, the Eagles said he could fill the “Joker” role – a sort of roving stand-up end -- once occupied by Clemons. But the rookie hasn’t really played there much and looks overwhelmed thus far. Sapp had surgery to correct a torn anterior cruciate ligament a year ago and had a slight setback with the knee early in camp. It could be enough for the Eagles to stow him on IR for a season.
Te’o-Nesheim has somehow found his way onto the first team nickel package as one of the tackles. I still don’t think he was worth a third round pick, by the coaches say they love DTN’s energy and work ethic.
Tapp was acquired when the Eagles sent Clemons and a fourth-round pick to Seattle in exchange for the underachiever. Clemons was a stiff by the end of his tenure in Philly, but I’m now starting to wonder who got the better end of that deal. Tapp is really small. He makes Graham, who has been knocked because of his size, look like Tony Siragusa. I still think he stays on the roster because the Eagles probably aren’t ready to admit their mistake.
Keeps the playbook: Cole, Graham, Juqua Parker, Te’o-Nesheim, Tapp and Abiamiri (PUP or IR).
On the bubble: Sapp.
Call your agent: Eric Moncur.
Tomorrow: Linebacker.
Is that 5 DEs if Abiamiri goes on IR?— P Even- I doubt that keeping Abiamiri's injury under wraps was the key to the Eagles drafting a defensive end. I'm pretty sure the whole 'everybody sucks whose name isn't Trent Cole thing' led to the rest of the league not being at all surprised that they took a DE with the first pick.— drbob1
- i was thinking the same thing docbob. Love Cole. Graham looks good so far. everyone else - uhh ohh.— dragoon6
- The Readers Digest version of this article. Cole, Graham and they got DE problems.— syddan26
- @dragoon6: Absolutely right... What's weird about the article is that before the draft, every sportswriter and his brother identified DE as a position of need for the Birds. Very few of them said that the reason was an oft injured DE being injured yet again, who, even when he's healthy hasn't done anything on the field.— drbob1
- Sorry the "have to keep him on the roster because we can't admit a mistake" spot is already taken by Mike Bell. BTW shouldn't we really just call it the "Jermoe McDougle Spot" and let it go at that?— jimmyj
- Nah man. What he's saying by the Eagles not disclosing the details of the injury was so that it didn't tip off to other teams that they would make the move up to 13 like they did to take Graham. Most "experts" expected the Birds would stay where they were and draft the best available on the board, S, DE, CB, etc since the Eagles had many needs, a ton of draft picks and the draft was fairly talent rich. If it was known that Abiamiri (whom the Eagles have for whatever reason been high on considering he's always hurt) had micro-fracture surgery, it would've alerted every other team in the league that DE was a much higher priority than originally thought. Hiding the surgery was key in making sure no team jumped ahead of the Eagles to take the guy they wanted not key to them taking a DE. Simple as that.— WatchOut4DirtyRollerSk8rs
- @watchout:I understand the theory... my point was that Abiamiri has never been an important enough player to change your whole draft strategy; if the other teams thought that a completely healthy Abiamiri would reduce the Birds chances of taking a DE, shame on them. As jimmyj alluded to that would be like saying a couple of years ago, 'Jerome McDougle is healthy, so there's no way they'll take a DE'.— drbob1
The Eagles keep 5 De's and 6 if you count Fokou. Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, Juqua Parker, Teo- Nesiem, and Darryl Tapp make it. Abiamiri is going on IR or he will get cut but there is no way he is playing this year for the eagles.— briandawkins20- Interesting comment the Eagletarian makes about Tapp. I also don't think DTN was worth a 3rd rounder. A 6th round maybe. But the coaches do seem to love him.— tacklinjoe
- DTN is among the rotation on the DL. That's worth a third rounder especially if he gets three sacks and a few tackles for losses. You never know, he might outplay Brandon. I can't believe a beat writer would suppose Abiamiri would make this team. Bill Conlin write this article?— JACK V
- Overall, the D-line got better! Overall the Linebacking got better! Overall, the D-backfield improved a little....not MUCH, but a little. So if this somewhat improved Defense can keep the other team to 24PPG, we might win nine....if it goes higher, we might see a losing season. I say this because the O-Line will not give KK, or the "running" game much of a chance at scoring points. I see us only doing 17-21 PPG this year. Andy needs another off-season to either tweak or re-build the O-line to give our skill players a CHANCE to succeed. Adding two more upgrade-type players to the D-Line and the Safety or CB positions will also help immensely. I expect that 2011 will be a BIG year for us if next off-season is that good to us.— TBear
- if DTN outplays brandon graham i will either be very impressed or depressed. i think they are good for next draft at this spot. probably next year they need to address OL and CB.— juggadore
- Just for the Bell haters...When Bell missed the first 2 preseason games last year, he ran over the Texans to the tune of 10 carries for 100 yards. Bust?? Don't think so. Glad you guys are carrying on the Negadelphian attitude...— crohnkiller
- This is going to be a long season! Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 6 months! As my father always said, "Wait till next year"— Air Force 1
