Eagles camp: Winners and losers
Who were the winners and losers at Eagles training camp the last three weeks? Here is my list.
Eagles camp: Winners and losers
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
At around 9:30 a.m. this morning, Eagles players ran off the practice field, ending their time at Lehigh for the summer of 2010.
DeSean Jackson led the way, flashing a peace sign at cameras, and saying "Bye-bye Lehigh. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."
"I'm going, going, back, back to Philly, Philly," rapped Max Jean-Gilles.
And that was that.
Before jumping on the Northeast Extension myself, let's go over some camp winners and losers from the last three-plus weeks.
WINNERS
Stewart Bradley - No one was sure what we'd see from him after Bradley missed all of last year with a torn ACL. Would the team temper its expectations? Would the Eagles ease him in? Not really. During Sean McDermott's first press conference here, he talked about the difference Bradley would make, and how he'd be the quarterback and leader of the defense. On the field, Bradley looked great and appears to be a huge upgrade over the six players who rotated in and out of the middle linebacker position last year.
Ellis Hobbs - I criticized him last year and thought the Eagles were making a mistake entering camp with him as their starting right cornerback. I'm not ready to back off that stance, but I have a new-found respect for the way Hobbs takes each rep seriously and works to improve every time he puts a helmet on. Hobbs received pretty much no competition for the starting job and will be the right cornerback in Week 1. If he fails, it won't be because of lack of effort or preparation.
Brandon Graham - From his first practice, Graham made the Eagles look smart for trading up in the first round to acquire him. He's established himself as the left defensive end on the first-team nickel and just recently began to see reps inside. His role should increase as the season goes on, and look for Graham to become a fan favorite in his first season in Philly.
Riley Cooper - I didn't think he would be able to overtake Hank Baskett for the No. 4 wide receiver position, and I was wrong. With players going down left and right, I don't think Cooper missed a practice from the first day the rookies reported. He set the tone early, getting in a fight with Hobbs and showing his teammates he wasn't backing down from anyone. Cooper caught everything in sight and figures to provide a physical presence the Eagles do not have in this receiving corps.
Nate Allen - The free safety position was his to lose coming in, and that didn't happen. Allen impressed teammates with his nose for the ball and his ability to learn McDermott's defense. He still has to prove himself in games, but Allen's off to a good start.
Kurt Coleman - He was behind the other rookies since NCAA rules prevented Coleman from attending all the OTAs in the spring. But he showed right away that he's physical and worthy of a roster spot, despite being picked in the seventh round.
Clay Harbor - Marty Mornhinweg said yesterday that Harbor still has a long way to go, but he firmly established himself as the second-best tight end on the roster. The coaches love his work ethic, and Harbor has the size and strength to improve as a blocker.
Austin Howard - He was a no-name coming in, but now appears like a sure bet to make the roster as a backup tackle. Andy Reid said today that Howard probably went undrafted last season because of injuries, not because he lacked ability.
Trevor Laws - The Eagles need him to make a leap this season after getting little production from Laws in his first two seasons. He's had a good (not great) camp and looks like he'll stick on the roster.
LOSERS
Nick Cole - He began camp as the starting center, but struggled with the snap before going down with an injury. Cole hasn't practiced in a couple weeks, and with each day that passes, it seems more and more likely that he will lose the job to Mike McGlynn.
Moise Fokou - He ended last season and began camp as the starting SAM linebacker. Now, Fokou's role is unclear. Akeem Jordan has taken over the starting position, and Fokou has been practicing with the second team. He's also seen time at defensive end. Fokou should still make the roster, but his role figures to be far less prominent than I expected a few weeks ago.
Macho Harris - Like Fokou, he ended last season as a starter. At the time, he was at free safety, but the team decided to give him a shot at cornerback in the offseason. Harris struggled with injuries here and never really got a chance to prove himself. Will the Eagles move him back to safety? Is he the fourth cornerback? Harris' role is unclear going forward.
Mike Bell - Through really no fault of his own, Bell had a tough camp and couldn't stay healthy. He was visibly frustrated at times, and we really know nothing more about Bell now than we did a few weeks ago. That is concerning, considering how thin the Eagles are at running back behind LeSean McCoy.
Cornelius Ingram - It's tough to not be pulling for Ingram, given what he's been through the past couple seasons, but he just did not stand out during camp. The more I think about it, the less likely it seems that Ingram is going to make the opening 53-man roster.
Darryl Tapp - The Eagles acuired him in the offseason from Seattle, but Tapp has not been much of a factor in McDermott's defensive line rotation, serving primarily as Trent Cole's backup at right defensive end. The only problem there is that Cole never comes out of the game. I think Tapp still makes the roster, but like the others in this category, I'm not sure what his role is going to be.
Hank Baskett - Another guy who battled through injuries here (noticing a theme?). Baskett entered camp as the favorite to win the No. 4 wide receiver position. That's not happening. Now he has to hold off guys like Kelley Washington and Chad Hall just to make the roster.
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Good report. I'm hoping Ingram makes the roster. Depends on next 2 preseason games.— MJPD345- Enjoy SK's writing/reporting while you can. Soon he'll be married, and his cute, little mate will criticize almost everything he thinks, does, or says: "Don't say that, Dummy", or "That could be said better, Mr. Pulitzer". Oh yes, soon SK will be phoning his reports in from home, watching their kids as Mrs. SK finds her own identity as head cashier selling antiques in a five and dime. Lovely.— mccloudmj
- get rid of ingram, keep hall for spec teams. Get Desean off the punt return duties unless we need him at the end of a game— peteike
- Why don't you take that attitude mccloudmj and go look in the mirror and see what stands out!— Bleue
- What no one failed to mention is how bad Reid and company are with trading and how they get rid of guys quickly. They trade for Takeo Spikes (good deal) and let him go after one year. He would have been better than any player other than Bradley prior to last season. They trade fro Alex Hall and he is cut during training camp. Does anyone want Sheldon back for at least CB depth? This guy does. They trade for Tapp by giving up a player and a 4th round pick and he is lucky to make the team. That 4th round pick couldn't have been used more wisely? They trade for Witherspoon, giving up a promising young WR, only to cut the LB after half a season. I think he would have been better than Jordan. They trade for Arrington, who barely sees the field. I won't even bring up the awful Simoneau trade. I love how Andy and company thinks they are so smart and can take a scrub player from another team and make him suddenly good.— eaglegrn21
- We Want McNabb!!— Tyronne Coppel
- @sasquatches: While you are correct that on many teams the long snapper is a third TE, the Eagles list Jon Dorenbos as simply "LS" and have never lined him up at TE in a regular season game. My point is that I think Reid will keep Ingram if he feels he can help the team, and therefore he'll have 3 TE's. If he doesn't, he'll just go with Celek and Harbor, and give the roster spot to another position. He had the chance, for instance, to keep Tony Curtis around to back up Alex Smith and Celek last year, but simply replaced Curtis with Smith.— drbob1
Comment removed.
drbob1: among the elders on the Eagles beat, I'd say Les Bowen is clearly the best, followed by Rich Hoffman. Ford and Domo are annoying and often useless or simply "controversial." On the Sixers beat, Phil Sheridan is perfectly admirably great (if not as informative and insightful as Kate) and Bob Cooney seems professional/worthwhile but not really all that engaged in the NBA game. And then of course there are the old-school treats of Bill Lyon and Stan Hochman, two different but equally excellent takes/styles.— Leegles- udvard: Kate Fagan deserves a Pultizer for single-handedly making the previous Sixers season semi-interesting. Seriously. She had one of hardest teams in Philly to write about in a long long time and killed it daily. Professional, engaging, intelligent, insightful, at times almost passionate.— Leegles
- @leegals: Old school , I agree with you on Lyon, I've never been a Hochman fan, there's a book out that I can't think of the name of, that deals with the way the media treated the '64 Phils, and Hochman was cited as being among many who went out of their way to delve into the players personal lives, like Dick Allen, and speculated that they played a large part in the breakdown and collapse of the team late in the season. Les does a fine job for the most part, but like Sheridan , gets a little preachy about what he expects in terms of the personalities of the players. Ford and Domo are annoying because they try to come off like " I know everything, you know nothing". Kate Fagan is likely one of the youngest at the paper, but everyone at the paper could learn 2 things from her: 1) She writes about basketball, not whether this player loves that player, or doesn't like the coach, or is having an affair with the lawn guy, but basketball. 2) She writes as though she expects something from her readers, that is, to at least understand some basic fundamentals of the game. She doesn't dumb her columns down for those who wouldn't know a basketball from a pumpkin. If the other journalists wrote like Fagan, the papers would have more readers.— drbob1
- Nicely said, drbob1 -- I totally agree: "[Kate Fagan] writes as though she expects something from her readers, that is, to at least understand some basic fundamentals of the game. She doesn't dumb her columns down for those who wouldn't know a basketball from a pumpkin. If the other journalists wrote like Fagan, the papers would have more readers."— Leegles
- 2TEs, Ingram PUPed; 5WRs, Goodbye Kelley Washington; 1 hybrid named Hall. Oh, Sheil good stuff; it's appreciated.— Warhound
- I think it's interesting that this piece highlights just how many of the writer's predictions came up lame. Like, practically all of them. Now, I'm supposed to factor in this guy's predictions for the 53-man roster? Cornelius Ingram is a LOCK to make the roster. The coaches I'm sure remember, as the writer has apparently forgotten, that Ingram hasn't played football in 3 years! This was the VERY first time he competed against any NFL talent for a full offseason. He's way too athletically gifted for the Eagles to give up on him at the moment he is finally healthy. And they're not paying him mega $$. I think Ingram becomes the 5th WR by week 8, as they give up on teaching him to block. I can see him becoming a lesser version of the Sharpe bros, once he cleans up his route running.— montgomeryhopkins
- it's pretty sad when you guys critique the writer as much as the players?— sgamble077
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