Spagnuolo's future, Eagles' draft position
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Spagnuolo's future, Eagles' draft position
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
One of the first decisions the Eagles will have to make following Sunday's regular-season finale against the Redskins is what to do at defensive coordinator.
And more specifically, will Juan Castillo be back? Will they sell the idea that Castillo has improved as the season's gone on? That he's earned a full offseason to work with his players and show what he can do?
Or will they decide that some of their most talented defensive players - Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Nnamdi Asomugha - are on the wrong side of the 30, and a proven defensive coordinator is necessary to make a Super Bowl run in 2012?
That decision brings us to a report out of San Diego. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chargers plan on cutting ties with head coach Norv Turner once the season's over. But maybe more importantly, the team could part ways with general manager A.J. Smith.
How would that affect the Eagles? Per Acee, it would create a domino effect that would result in Steve Spagnuolo becoming the Birds' new defensive coordinator.
The story goes like this: Smith would be hired in St. Louis to become the Rams' new general manager, and he would bring with him Jon Gruden as head coach. According to the report, Gruden has decided to return to coaching in 2012, and ESPN is already preparing for him to leave.
Here's the key part from Acee that affects the Eagles:
League sources also said this week that it is all but certain that Spagnuolo will join Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.
Spagnuolo, of course, spent eight seasons as a defensive assistant here from 1999-2006. The Rams are currently 2-13. They were 7-9 last year and 1-15 in Spagnulo's first season in St. Louis.
What would need to happen for the aforementioned scenario to play out? The Rams would have to cut ties with Spagnuolo, which seems likely, based on several reports out of St. Louis and around the country. The Eagles would have to cut ties with Castillo. And Spagnuolo would have to want to join the Eagles. He will likely have other options: becoming a defensive coordinator elsewhere, taking a year off, etc.
The Eagles would also have to decide on their defensive philosophy if they brought in Spagnuolo. In St. Louis, and before that with the Giants, Spagnuolo relied on a blitz/zone-blitz scheme. While the Eagles have blitzed more in recent weeks, for much of the season, they've relied on pressure from the front four and Jim Washburn's wide-nine. Through 15 weeks, the Eagles lead the NFL with 49 sacks, and 45 of them have come from defensive linemen.
There's one more game to go, and then it will be decision time once again for the Eagles, as they look ahead to 2012.
DRAFT POSITION
If the season ended today, the Eagles would have the 13th pick in the first round. They currently have the same record (7-8) as the Cardinals, Seahawks, Chargers and Bears. The tiebreak is strength of schedule. In other words, the team with the weakest strength of schedule gets the higher pick.
There are currently 11 teams with a worse record than the Eagles. The Birds' pick can be no higher than No. 9, depending on what happens next week. There are currently six 8-7 teams, so the Eagles could drop several spots with a win against the Redskins.
The Eagles would also have picks 44 and 48 (in the second round) if the season ended today. They have their own pick, along with the Cardinals' selection from the Kevin Kolb deal.
If you missed it from Monday, I posted Man Up on the defense.
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Hire Herman Edwards as coach. He understands Philly fans and would have no tolerance for thug punks like Kelce and Mathis who threaten fans. He also would have cut Prince Fabio the day after calling fans a bunch of bandwagon jumpers including poor loneboneFrankiegarner.— Astro Jones- Castillo, a minority, is the scapegoat for this season. What a shock.— eldiablodelsol2009
- "We'll get 'em next year!" Copy and repeat. Forever.— green(withenvy)
Comment removed.- Bring in a real GM, someone from the Ozzie Newsome tree in Baltimore, that recognizes talent, when to trade up or down, and understands that a seventh round gem is great but that doesn't mean you stockpile seventh round picks. If I hear one more time "there were a lot of good NFL players in the lower rounds" to justify our incessant (and ineffective) wheeling and dealing I think I will jump out the nearest window. Before the present cast of characters, I remember when the draft was something to anticipate...reading about the options, hearing different opinions from the various commentators (many of which are full of it but that's OK too), and then waiting for the pick to be announced. These last couple of years have been a joke...with almost every pick seeming like a reach as we watch talented players that we snub get picked up by other teams. Everyone talks about Sean Lee and Jason Pierre Paul but I'm sure there are others if anyone wanted to do the research.— chesapeake
- Who cares! Jeff Laurie is now competing with Jerry Wolman and Norman Braman as the worst owner in any Philly franchise history. Way to go Jeff. Remember that multiple superbowls speech you gave 19 years ago. Conference rivals Dallas won twice and NY Giants once and cross state rival Steelers won twice. We came close once in 19 seasons.Colts(2),Steelers(4),Patriots(5),Giants(2),Denver(2) Packers(3)in Super Bowl appearances in that time. We are far from an elite franchise, we are only in the middle of the pack. 10-6 and 11-5 are nice middle of the pack seasons. To be elite you have to be 12-4,13-3,14-2. I haven't seen many of those seasons with Andy,Joe,Howie and Jeff and I am not anticipating any in the future. Keep drinking the kool aid people.— REL3
- Barring another 2007 miracle, Giant's DC Perry Fewell will get axed. I would imagine that Spags is at the top of their list. Where do you think Spags will go.....NY where he won a SB or philly? Sorry Eagles fans, he's not coming here!— chasing history
- Spags will not be brought in because that would make sense. Anyone who has followed the Eagles over the last five years knows that they will do whatever is contrary to logic. Hence we have gotten Roseman as GM and Castillo as defensive coordinator. You're more likely to get Jim Washburn as they new offensive coordinator then you are Spags as the new defensive coordinator.— Hemingway
- I think the more telling is that AJ Smith might be let go. That would be a better pickup. I would love to see him get picked up and Norv run the offense (He is a better OC then HC) and maybe Spag's as DC? Maybe pickup the OC/LB coach from GB? I agree that if the jint's opens up, Spags might land there. That would be an offseason and management team I could see not making the same mistakes. It starts with having a REAL GM, setting that foundation, then going from there. Anything less than a new GM (Banner can stay counting beans) will mean the same overlooking key components going into the season. If Landri isn't given a new contract, this front office is a bunch of dopes.— xlGmanlx
- Pick Alabama players
- While, obviously, Castillo was handed the DC job w/o prior experience - a suspect move if ever there was one - part of it probably had to do with installing Washburn's "wide-9."
Essentially it was Washburn's defense. And Castillo had to work with what was given including mediocre (at best) LB's and young Safeties.
W/o an upgrade at those positions, the Birds can bring whatever "defensive genius" you can think of, and it won't make much difference.
In fairness to Castillo, I would give him another shot. Making him the sole scapegoat for this season's failure is wrongheaded. Anyway, Reid is going to be back, so we all might as well get "comfortable" with that ... or, simply, deal with it.
— FishFryFrank - Give him another shot, but not now, not this time. The window is short for this group, we don't have time to see if Juan can win now. Nothing wrong with being humble and learning. I agree they get pressure with their front four, but who decides the front alignment before the season even starts? Why not build a scheme to match your talent? Or actually have a personality on defense and find players to match that? We do neither. — xlGmanlx
- Here's hoping Andy takes the job that will surely be vacated in San Diego. In the last few years they have let go of Michael Turner, LT, and Darren Sproles. Seems like they don't like to run the ball either. Great match for Big Red, and hopefully he takes Marty with him.— topwonk
- Doesn't anybody look at facts? You want to trade the guy responsible for the 21st ranked defense for the guy responsible for the 8th ranked defense? Hello McFly! Is anybody home? Is the whole City nuts? (Rhetorical question.)— Lockyer
- 7-8, does anyone believe for a second that the talent that Spag's has is the same as Castillo? Didn't Spag's beat one of the greatest single season teams in NFL history? What does Juan have on his resume? Head butting players and beating weak teams when the season was over. Darn straight we would want Spags, he has a REAL NFL DC resume. — xlGmanlx
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