McDermott, the D-line and Eagles' goals
How will Sean McDermott reshape the Eagles' defense in his second season as defensive coordinator? He offered some answers on Tuesday night.
McDermott, the D-line and Eagles' goals
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles held a chalk talk event Tuesday night at the Novacare Complex.
Its purpose was to give the media a chance to meet with members of the coaching staff and front office in a casual setting. There were no formal press conferences with audio recorders and the like, but MTC never leaves home without our notebook.
So over the next couple days, I'll share some of the more interesting parts of the event.
Let's start with the defense. Sean McDermott cued up the tape to show how the Birds' defensive personnel packages changed on third down last season. I went over a lot of these things last season: bringing in pass rushers to play inside on third downs, playing as many as six DBs at a time, etc.
I asked McDermott who he thought would be the guys to sub in for Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley now that Darren Howard is gone and Victor Abiamiri is injured. He didn't provide names, but said he's started to classify guys into different categories: pass rushers, hybrid LB/DEs and so on. McDermott said his job is to get the best players on the field, even if that means playing four linebackers at times, or having someone like Stewart Bradley line up with his hand on the ground for a couple plays.
There's evidence to support McDermott's notion. You remember last year that Trevor Laws, a second-round pick from 2008, could not get on the field even though the Eagles used as many as nine or 10 linemen in a given game. Instead, undrafted free agent Antonio Dixon was used as the first backup for Bunkley and Patterson. At strong-side linebacker, seventh-round pick Moise Fokou started over Chris Gocong.
In other words, McDermott showed he has no reservations about giving a low-profile guy the nod over a high draft pick or a veteran.
McDermott said subbing so many guys in and out last year was not ideal, but it's reasonable to wonder whether he'll have to do the same thing this year. Especially on the defensive line, there appears to be quite a few guys with specialized skills. Think about it. Other than Trent Cole, who's a defensive lineman that should absolutely be on the field in every situation? The Eagles hope Brandon Graham is that kind of guy, but he's a rookie, whose role (at least to start the season) is unknown.
GOALS ON 'D'
McDermott has a chart up in the classroom with goals for the defense next season. In the coming weeks, I want to take a look at some of the numbers to see how good the defense would have to be, compared to previous years, to meet these goals, but here are some of the numbers (per game):
* Allow 17 points or less.
* Allow 285 yards or less.
* Create two or more turnovers.
* Limit opponents to less than 44 rush attempts and pass completions (combined).
* Allow no more than three big plays (defined as runs of 10 yards or more, or passes of 25 yards or more).
* Limit opponents to 5.5 yards per pass.
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Here's a goal on defense: TACKLE!— AllDawk_AllTheTime- This defense has a lot of speed but not much size, your DB's need to be able to cover and you need to tackle well otherwise it will be a long season and teams will continue to run right at you. Expect a lot of Subs.— jss31
- If they allow 17 points or less, they will win a lot of games.— P Even
- Yea they will P Even - too bad their schedule looks like murderer's row this year...don't get your hopes up.— EaglesBleedMoney
- "McDermott said subbing so many guys in and out last year was not ideal". Now that was an understatement. Other than the D-Line the Eagles defense was a chinese fire drill last season. Nobody could get into the flow of the game. Injuires played a BIG part in that and McDermott being a "rookie" defensive coordinator trying to do too much also was a factor. Three more goals should be added. 1. Tackle 2. Attitude 3. HIT and HIT hard. It's been a long time since the Eagle defense has hit somebody in the mouth.— craig123
- Would be great if he can convince their smurfs (the entire back 7 other than bradley) that they need to wrap up and drive (or in samuel's case wrap up and pray for help) as opposed to trying to make a sportscenter highlight hit. Their tackling fundamentals are putrid.— hobski
- (1) "McDermott said subbing so many guys in and out last year was not ideal, but it's reasonable to wonder whether he'll have to do the same thing this year."; (2) "Think about it. Other than Trent Cole, who's a defensive lineman that should absolutely be on the field in every situation?" @ Sheil: These are telling quotes that in my humble opinion evidence the FO hasn't done a good job providing McDermott the right tools. Is McDermott a great or poor D coordinator, I don't know. I have no problem with what I've seen so far. That said, players win and the quotes show he doesn't necessarily have the right tools.— DennyP
- To early to tell anything about this team. Offensive or defense, doesn't matter. It's been a long time since going into a season with no idea what to expect. But I'm setting the bar low for the upcoming season. If they do better...GREAT!— PhillyFanSouth
- and, it's been a long time since an Eagles defense was feared by or intimidated the opposition...if anything, other teams label the Eagles (defense and offense) as "predictable"...— garyhod
- he needs to get a real DTackle one who can not only play the run but also provide pressure on the pocket, bunkley and patterson are okay against the run but that's it. abimari, Laws can't get it done either, when's it going to sink in, without a stud DT they'll never compete with giants or cowboys...— dave54
- Gotta love these morons like dave54. "Bunk and Patt are okay against the run but that's it." Come back when you understand 2-Gap DT technique and the inherent limitations we place on their pass-rushing abilities.— DCSS215
- Is stupid of my to wonder why we didn't go after Terrence "Mount" Cody as a DT? I mean the guy is ENORMOUS! He went in the second round, two spots before the pick we traded (We definitely had enough ammo to move up two spots in the second round). And after all, the Ravens drafted him, and those guys haven't missed drafting a defensive player since they were the Browns. Just a thought.— rob808pf
- I hope to see Bunkley play more on 3rd down. This is the main reason why he & Pats sack totals are so low. How about subbing for them when they get tired?? As soon as there motor gets going, they have to sit on 3rd down. That energy they expend running off the field could be used on an extra down. Too much shuffling of players on the D-line. Sub the D-line when necessary, not just on 3rd down. Hopefully Eags will be less predictable this season.— I See
- The offense won't support the defense in that they don't posses the ball enough. This will keep the D on the field too much and will make it much harder to keep the other team below 17.— davekrieg
- dave54 has it exactly right. The Eagles have had undersized D lineman for far too long. They are simply too small as a unit to compete with good offensive lines. Rarely do they get pressure unless they blitz at least 1, and sometimes they need to blitz 2. Blitz mania, like the '46' defense only works for a while until teams figure out the protection scheme necessary to counter it. They may get some success against the lousy and average teams, but against the better teams that make it to the playoffs they get burnt.— DMo
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