Washburn faces tough decisions
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Washburn faces tough decisions
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
When full-team OTAs get under way next week, we'll start to get a sense of how the pieces fit along the Eagles' defensive line.
Jim Washburn's group returns nine players, if you count Brandon Graham and Antonio Dixon, both of whom missed most of last season with injuries. Others who will be back: Jason Babin, Trent Cole, Phillip Hunt, Cullen Jenkins, Derek Landri, Mike Patterson, and Darryl Tapp.
They also added Fletcher Cox in the first round and Vinny Curry in the second. If you count defensive tackle Cedric Thornton, who spent most of 2011 on the practice squad, that's 12 guys likely fighting for 10 spots.
Of course, it's not as simple as just cutting two. We still have about three months to get through, which could bring injuries or even trades.
Having said that, let's take a look at production from last season. The first table shows overall sacks and hurries. Note that hurries are tracked by the team.
| Sacks | Hurries | |
| Jason Babin | 18 | 48 |
| Trent Cole | 11 | 42 |
| Cullen Jenkins | 5.5 | 24 |
| Mike Patterson | 2.5 | 24 |
| Darryl Tapp | 2.5 | 22 |
| Derek Landri | 2 | 18 |
| Phillip Hunt | 2 | 13 |
Note that I didn't include Dixon, Graham or Thornton in the table. Dixon had no sacks and one hurry in four games (42 pass-rushing opportunities). Graham had no sacks and one hurry in three games (28 pass-rushing opportunities). Thornton was not active on gameday.
After signing on for a second tour of duty with the Birds, Babin led the team with 18 sacks and 48 hurries. I'll save some of you the trouble of posting in the comments that he's not great against the run, but the bottom line is Babin was brought here to rush the passer, and he did that at a high level last season.
Cole finished second in both categories with 11 sacks and 42 hurries. And as I pointed out recently, he finished strong with five sacks and 14 hurries in the final four games.
On the interior, Jenkins led the way with 5.5 sacks and 24 hurries. Patterson and Landri also contributed.
As always, it's good to look at opportunities. In the next table, the first column is sacks per pass-rushing opportunity; the second is hurries per pass-rushing opportunity; and the third is sacks PLUS hurries per pass-rushing opportunity.
Thanks to Pro Football Focus for tracking total numbers of chances for each player.
| Sack % | Hurry % | Sack + Hurry % | |
| Babin | 4.2% | 11.2% | 15.4% |
| Cole | 2.9% | 11.2% | 14.1% |
| Jenkins | 1.4% | 6.0% | 7.4% |
| Patterson | 0.7% | 6.3% | 7.0% |
| Tapp | 1.5% | 12.8% | 14.2% |
| Landri | 1.1% | 9.5% | 10.5% |
| Hunt | 1.9% | 12.4% | 14.3% |
Babin's numbers were not really padded just by having more pass-rushing opportunities than the other defensive linemen. He had the highest sack percentage and overall percentage on the team.
Landri was more productive as a pass rusher than he's given credit for. He'll likely have to battle Dixon and Thornton for playing time (and a roster spot?).
A couple other guys stand out here: Tapp and Hunt. They could be fighting one another for a roster spot, but both show why it's important to look at more than just sacks. Tapp's overall pass-rushing numbers were very good, even though he only totaled 2.5 sacks. He also missed four games because of injury.
Hunt played in nine games and only had two sacks, but his overall pass-rushing numbers were good too.
With Cole and Babin in place as the starters, Curry, Graham, Tapp and Hunt will compete to be a part of the rotation. Tapp and Hunt could be battling for one roster spot. Tapp is 27 and signed through 2012, while Hunt is 26 and signed through 2013. Keep in mind that the fifth defensive end is unlikely to be active on gamedays.
Andy Reid and Howie Roseman have given Washburn plenty of talent to work with. If everyone stays relatively healthy, he'll have to decide this summer which players fit the best in his eight-man rotation.
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The most important number stated above is "(Cole) finished strong with five sacks and 14 hurries in the final four games."
Unless I'm remembering wrong, the last few seasons Cole's production slipped towards the end of the season, due, I'm sure, to being worn down.
Sheil: what percentage of snaps did Cole play this past year vs. the years prior? How did last year's number overall, and numbers in the final four games, compare to the years prior?
I'm willing to bet that Cole played a smaller percentage of snaps but produced more last year than in years past...
— JTR- Stats rarely tell the whole story and can be very misleading. For example, which player was double-teamed the most? Were the sacks achieved at crucial moments in the game or during garbage time? Did any large number of sacks come against one team/player? If so, was it a replacement player? Was the QB chased right into the arms of a defender? Were the sacks achieved against a certain style of offense. Were they achieved while in a particular defensive alignment only? How about down and distance? Were they achieved in obvious passing downs?
- JTR, very good points. I as thinking the same thing. Cole has worn down the last couple of years. In the past they didn't want to pull Cole off of the field due to his value. He completely disappeared down the stretch at the end of the season.
This past season he was pulled off the field more than normal. The beginning of the year that was not the case. Our backups were all injured and Cole and Babin were ineffective in the 4th quarters. (Tapp was out ATL, NYG & SF / Graham was on PUP / Hunt was activated some of that stretch but received very few snaps).
Our D-Line philosophy is an all out approach were you go with no breaks and then get a break. When the rotation isn't in place the players need to pace themselves. Not the case last year.
The other major factor during the loses in the beginning of the season was that Cole was double teamed in the first half while Babin cleaned up. In the 2nd half the double team switched to Babin. It made him ineffective and Cole was spent by then due to the strenuous 1st half. Best example of this was the SF game. Alex had all day to throw that ball in the 2nd half.— cetst11 - Hunt and Tapp are gone.— SilliBilli
- I'd say Thornton and Tapp are gone, Hunt becomes DL # 10. Hunt and Tapp's production were similar, and Tapp costs more to keep...— JTR
- @JTR - Sheil already provided breakdown of how many snaps less Cole played and his percentage of snaps. It was a reduction as you suspect.— xlGmanlx
- Oh ok, thanks...wonder how that translated to production? Maybe I'm being a stat geek, but I'd imagine you could use the total number of snaps played, the percentage of snaps played, and the percentage of snaps played that are productive [defined as a snap in which he either sacks the qb, hurries the qb, or tackles the ball carrier within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage, (definition open to suggestion)], and boil it down to one number that would represent production.
Do the same for the past, say, the last 3 seasons, and then you can see how productive he is when he plays X number of snaps vs how productive he is when he plays Y number of stats.
I'd imagine it would end up being a bell curve where he gets more and more productive the more snaps he takes up to a point. After that point his production drops...so I guess the overall question would be, what is that point? How many snaps should he take to derive maximum production?
Ok, now I see it, I'm def. a stat geek.— JTR - With Cox, Curry, Dixon, and Graham, the Eagles just added four potential starters to a line of Cole, Babin, Patterson, and Jenkins. If those eight stay healthy.... you have the kind of pass rush that sometimes wins Super Bowls. Hunt and Landri are not bad fill-ins if there are injuries.— armchairGM
- I have to agree with you 100% on this one. The Eagles have to starting caliber defensive lines on this team. Just think what some teams like the Bucs, Titans, or Chiefs would give to have our second teams d-line as their starting four. I cant wait to see the havoc thats caused this season. I'm feeling 45+ sacks on the season again. — MDbirdsfan89
- I like Landri and his attitude. I like Tapp as well. Would like to see a team in need of a DT call the eagles and tell them they have a good saftey to trade for a DT. I coul dsee patterson being traded for a quality safety and then insert the Dixon Jenkins rotation with Cox and Landri— tsump
With this new crop on rookies that have REAL HEART....It's time to say goodbye and good riddance to first round BUST Brandon "McDougle" Graham.— citysims
Comment removed.- Injuries always play a role in who makes the team.— zeke128
- I agree with Wishbone.. I like Tapp but with Curry falling to them, hes gotta go. Curry & Graham have to get those snaps. I wish Sheil posted Graham's rookie numbers so idiots would stop calling Graham a bust. We get it, should have picked Earl Thomas, but Graham's a bust because he tore up his knee late in his rookie season??— FABER
- Graham had 12 tackles and 3 sacks in 13 games. That seems like a bust to me. — motesac
- How about stats that show sacks at key points in a game, like the red zone and 3rd down? All of the sacks the line got last year didn't seem like much or very important since the defense overall wasn't that great. In baseball there are meaningless home runs and game winning home runs. I'd like to know which players step up when the game is on the line.— ej610
- Have to agree. I have been very critical of Babin and will continue to take flak for it as I deem him over rated. If there is such a thing as a soft 18 sacks, Babin is the very definition. I can remember a couple to ice a game maybe, but for the most part, they were irrelevent in the flow of the game.
Being a stat geek myself, I would love to see a stat that shows sacks/hurries during games with score differential of less than 10/7. Sacks in blow out games or garbage time is useless. Also maybe last five minutes of half's when score differential is less than 7 sacks/hurries and obviously ones that took place on third downs as well. A sack on first down is great, but if it doesn't stop a drive and still allows a scoring drive, who cares?— xlGmanlx - I think Sheil had this stat at some point. My memory is that Babin had alot of sacks on first down. This usually resulted in third and long, but our poor secondary could not keep them from converting on far too many occasions. Bottom line, our defensive line was not the problem, it was our secondary. — Uncle Carm
- JTR - like you suspect, he went from 80% of the snaps to around 60% (great breakdown by Skapadia). it seemed like he held up at the end of the season as a result.— dragoon6
- Graham had no sacks and one hurry in three games (28 pass-rushing opportunities).
Thats a bust after 28 plays??? wow. Im more worried about Jarrett not ever impressing during practices enough to play. Ill be reasonable and give Graham some more time. If you gave up on players that soon, you would never hold a job in the NFL longer than a season.
— peteike - Hunt will beat out Tapp unless Tapp gets a pay-cut. Tapp could get traded for a very low draft pick if another team is willing to take on his salary..— conceptual_bro
- ej610: Mike Schmidt had 400 solo home runs
Tapp ranks high on clutch tackles and sacks just like he did in Seattle— Blue Hens Rule 
Babin is a gimmick in this offense, and yes most of his sacks were probably on 1st and 2nd down when it didnt really matter much. Bring in a DE to play DT and a an undersized DE smaller then Trent Cole to be a rotational pass rusher and you will improve against the run dramatically....not really. They will still be good at getting meaningless sacks and bad at stopping the run. Maybe the next coach will understand defense.- The way the Eagles play it doesn't matter who starts the game, the rotation keeps the players fresh. The constant pounding and stunts on the offensive line is bound to have a negative effect once fatigue sets in on the Offensive Line. At that point the Eagles line men just T Off.
This set up has a chance to be brutal and very entertaining. Most important Cox and Curry should find the time and opportunity to develop quite nicely.
— Dexter - Loved Landri's hustle last year Tapp is nice... just expensive don't see Reid not sticking with the youth movement and keeping his younger players.— trinieagle
- I also understand that Washburn wasn't a big fan of Dixon before he went down with the injury. I think both Tapp/Dixon will be gone— crohnkiller
- Graham's a no brainer! Let him go right off the bat ,and then go from there.— Geno D
- Tapp will be traded for a 7th rd pick ($$$$). Graham and Hunt will most likely battle for the last spot. Does Andy GIVE the spot to Graham because he is a high pick (see Laws over Landri) even if Hunt has a better camp? My guess is YES! Andy doesn't like people thinking he ever makes mistakes in the draft. We know better!— younged
- Hindsight, stop dragging down the collective IQ of this site...it's embarrassing.— tpizza
- I thought a "hurry" was AR running to the chow line....— SkipinWV
- Also if im not mistaken Cole was injured 2-3 games last year and still had eleven sacks and the idea that theres "useless sacks" is kinda wierd CHARLIEGARNER25— Lambo1
- As bad as we talk bout castillo and the defense it still was ranked 8th last year WOW— Lambo1
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