Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard

Favre, Babin and Washburn's rotation

Let's start with Brett Favre, shall we?

This one started when Howard Eskin cited sources saying it was "possible" the Eagles would look at him as a backup to Michael Vick.

The Inquirer's Jeff McLane has more details on Birds' Eye View and is told by league sources that Favre coming here would be the longest of longshots, even though Vick would apparently welcome him.

I don't see how Favre in an Eagles uniform would make sense. He turns 42 in October. I'm sure he'd still love to play on Sundays, but why would he want to be a backup at this point in his career?

And then there's this overlooked factor: Favre was terrible last season. Eleven touchdowns, 19 interceptions and a 69.9 QB rating.

As I've said many times before, nothing this team does "surprises" me anymore, given their recent unpredictability, but I just don't see the Favre thing happening.

BABIN'S POTENTIAL ROLE WITH THE EAGLES

One name that's been linked to the Eagles ever since they hired Jim Washburn is defensive end Jason Babin.

The positives? Babin had 12.5 sacks last season, is familiar with Washburn and his system, and could provide the Eagles with something they've been searching for - a pass rusher on the left side to play opposite Trent Cole.

The negatives? He's only had one good year, is 31 and will be looking to cash in.

One other factor I've heard discussed with Babin is he won't be happy as a rotational player with the Eagles, but that doesn't seem too relevant when you look at how Washburn used his defensive linemen in Tennessee.

I looked at snap counts from Pro Football Focus, and eight defensive linemen got on the field regularly last year for the Titans. Babin was healthy all season, started all 16 games, and he still only played 59.7 percent of the team's defensive snaps.

The Eagles also used eight defensive linemen last year under Sean McDermott, but they did things a little differently. Trent Cole rarely was taken off the field, playing 89.4 percent of the defensive snaps. The snap counts for guys like Mike Patterson, Juqua Parker, Trevor Laws, Brandon Graham, Darryl Tapp, Antonio Dixon and Brodrick Bunkley were more in line with what the Titans did.

In other words, if the Eagles added Babin, chances are, he'd be on the field as much as he was last year with the Titans. The interesting thing to monitor will be how much Cole's playing time is reduced, or if Washburn does things differently here with his rotation.

You can follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.