State of the Eagles: Playing time and personnel
The Eagles are still tweaking their roster as they enter Week 5. Here's a look at playing time and personnel groupings on offense and defense so far this season.
State of the Eagles: Playing time and personnel
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles' roster has undergone changes on a weekly basis since the season started.
The most recent move was the Mike Bell/Jerome Harrison trade on Wednesday.
With that being said, I wanted to take a look at playing time and personnel packages through five games. Let's start with the offense.
Here's a breakdown of the percentage of plays for running backs, wide receivers and tight ends:
| Running Backs | Percentage of snaps |
| LeSean McCoy | 84% |
| Owen Schmitt | 23% |
| Mike Bell | 14% |
| Eldra Buckley | 5% |
| Leonard Weaver | 2% |
| Wide Receivers | Percentage of snaps |
| Jeremy Maclin | 99% |
| DeSean Jackson | 93% |
| Jason Avant | 67% |
| Riley Cooper | 9% |
| Chad Hall | 3% |
| Tight Ends | Percentage of snaps |
| Brent Celek | 87% |
| Garrett Mills | 11% |
| Clay Harbor | 2% |
As I wrote about earlier this week, McCoy's been on the field for 84 percent of the snaps. McCoy has been very good and can line up in the backfield or out wide. Throw in the fact that the Eagles got no production from Bell, and it's easy to see why he's been on the field so much. It'll be interesting to see how much (if any) his playing time decreases now that Harrison is in the fold.
Maclin's played all but four snaps this season - the most of any of the skill position players. Jackson, of course, missed some time last game with the second-half injury. Avant has played two-thirds of the snaps. He was the second receiver when Jackson was sidelined against the Niners. Cooper didn't play in Week 5, and Hall has only been active for one game.
The tight end numbers are not surprising. Harbor is no longer active on gamedays, and I don't really see that changing unless Celek or Mills gets injured.
Here is a breakdown of the personnel packages the Eagles have utilized:
| Offensive personnel | Percentage of time used |
| 1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE | 47% |
| 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE | 26% |
| 1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE | 10% |
| 2 RB, 3 WR | 6% |
| 1 RB, 4 WR | 6% |
| 4 WR, 1 TE | 4% |
| 2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE | 1% |
| 3 WR, 2 TE | <1% |
The 1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE package continues to be the Eagles' most popular choice.
Last week, against the 49ers, the Eagles went with 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE on 40 percent of their offensive plays. In the first four weeks, that package was only used 22 percent of the time. Schmitt was on the field for 40 percent of the plays against San Francisco.
On the season, the Eagles have used two running back sets about 33 percent of the time. They've gone with two tight ends on about 11 percent of the snaps.
Injuries play a factor here. Against the Redskins, Cooper went down early, and the Eagles only had three receivers to use for three quarters of the game. Weaver went down in Week 1, and the Eagles didn't have a backup fullback on the roster.
DEFENSE
The defensive line rotation has been a much discussed topic on MTC since training camp. Here's the breakdown of playing time:
| Player | Percentage of snaps |
| Trent Cole | 89% |
| Brandon Graham | 63% |
| Mike Patterson | 52% |
| Trevor Laws | 47% |
| Juqua Parker | 43% |
| Brodrick Bunkley | 36% |
| Antonio Dixon | 28% |
| Darryl Tapp | 26% |
| Antwan Barnes | 16% |
Cole's number was affected last week when he had to leave the game for a stretch in the second half with an injury. Graham has played 63 percent of the snaps, but he played only 38 percent last week. Parker, meanwhile, has played 43 percent of the snaps, but was on the field for nearly 70 percent of them last week when he got the start.
With Bunkley's status unknown, Dixon figures to see a bump in the immediate future. And Laws also. Barnes is no longer on the roster.
The linebacker numbers are not of much use since Stewart Bradley missed a game due to injury, and Moise Fokou filled in for Akeem Jordan last week, but here's a look anyway:
| Player | Percentage of snaps |
| Ernie Sims | 88% |
| Stewart Bradley | 65% |
| Akeem Jordan | 42% |
| Omar Gaither | 32% |
| Moise Fokou | 9% |
| JaMar Chaney | 3% |
Sims has played 88 percent of the overall snaps, but that number was down slightly to 76 percent last week against the 49ers as Sean McDermott went with an extra defensive back and one linebacker on several occasions.
Bradley played every snap against San Francisco, but did not play well. We'll see if McDermott spells him in certain packages going forward.
Fokou figures to play the strong-side position in place of Jordan once again vs. the Falcons.
The Eagles have been in their base defense (3 LBs, 4 DBs) 46 percent of the time. They've been in the nickel (2 LBs, 5 DBs) 44 percent of the time. The other 10 percent has been dime (1 LB, 6 DBs) or short-yardage/goal line.
LOOKING AHEAD
Andy Reid, Marty Mornhinweg and McDermott will continue to adjust playing time and personnel packages based on performance. Several questions still remain on that front. On offense, how does Harrison fit in? Are there packages that will have both him and McCoy on the field at the same time? Will Schmitt's strong performance earn him more playing time? Will Cooper get on the field more as the season progresses?
Defensively, I wouldn't be surprised if the line rotation changes on a weekly basis, based on who's playing well. McDermott's shown in the last two years that he makes moves based on performance. Too often, that's simply meant a guy playing so poorly that he has to be benched, but McDermott is not worried about bruised egos.
Will the Eagles use an extra defensive back and one linebacker more like they did last week? Will that linebacker be Bradley?
Those are some things to keep an eye on as the Eagles take on four opponents in the next stretch that are a combined 13-7 so far.
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Passion 60, Charm 6...that sounds just about right!— mccloudmj- mcc I am a big fan of Clayton. I can't believe he has not dressed and played more, all he does is make plays when he is on field. How does he not at least play special teams and I can't agree more, he is perfect to cover TEs, something the Birds have not been able to do for years.— gobirds17
- JimmyJ and TX: You both a wandering down the "Blame Sean" road. This is Chubby's team, his schemes. Don't blame Sean when the Defense fails. Here's a thought, give Keenan Clayton the sole task of covering Tony Gonzalez. Stay with him wherever he goes, all day, from the time he gets off the plane. Stay with him.— mccloudmj
- Just learned that a Stegosaurus has a 2nd brain in it's backside. That information goes a long way to fill in a lot of blanks about this head coach.— mccloudmj
- what ever happened to jamming the receivers at the line?— kenr
- Looking back I think Mcdermott was setting up Bradley for failure against Davis. He would line up over center, him and Sims, faking a blitz, so that Davis would get free run off of line of scrimmage. Put somebody over the tight end and jam him, it will delay the route enough that maybe a lineman will get pressure, or the safeties can adjust and get over.
- we don`t know from week to week,hell, day to day— jkreids
- Sorry for the double above. NOW they are restricted, but he should have been playing Bunk and Patterson inside all year more. In what's left, Dixon is better at clogging the middle than Laws. Bradley can still play on passing downs, excepting fast tight ends like Davis, and two minute drills where you can't subsitute easily. Sims should be on the bench period since his average 3.5 tackles a game and zero effectiveness on the blitz can be made up any LB on the squad. I would probably take out Sims on passing downs before Bradley.— jimmyj
- jimmyj so who do you wanna put in then? its not like mcdermott has LT on the bench man. you just want them to go nickel D and take out bradley? thats fine, jordan should probably be playing with simm in the nickel, but complaining about laws when they dont have anyone else is kinda sad. face it they are thin at DT and LB— sasquatches
- Sheil wrote:
"Defensively, I wouldn't be surprised if the line rotation changes on a weekly basis, based on who's playing well. McDermott's shown in the last two years that he makes moves based on performance. Too often, that's simply meant a guy playing so poorly that he has to be benched, but McDermott is not worried about bruised egos."
Normally I agree with you about 90% of the time, but on this you are way off. Who has been more ineffective than Trevor Laws in his time with the team? How many unproductive downs did Victor Abiamiri play last year? Why did Barnes get any snaps in the first palce? Who has been more unproductive this year than Ernie Sims? Why was Bradley on the field at the end of the game last week when he was so clearly a liability on the pass defense?
Sorry, in McDermott's eyes it's all about his schemes and packages, not who is playing well, or what position someone is best suited to play.— jimmyj - I really appreciate osi's candor, humor, and insight. I just wish he could occasionally offer meaningful comments.— tommy_the_k
- i see Ernie 88% and Stew 66%,, wait,, they play?— osi is hurt boohoo
- You guys are good editors. Bad job by me. Fixed. --SK— skapadia
Heads up #2: "The tight end numbers are not surprising. Harbor is no longer active on gamedays, and I don't really see that changing unless Celek or Harbor gets injured." Shouldn't that be Celek or Mills?
— tornadoh- Yes, my fault. Changed it. Thanks for the heads-up. --SK— skapadia
- Um, wouldn't the "dime" package be 1 LB and 6 DB's (and not 1 LB and 5DB's as written here)?
— erformc1
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