Three Eagles questions
The Eagles begin their first offseason minicamp this weekend. Here are three things to keep an eye on as the Birds begin the process of preparing for the 2010 season.
Three Eagles questions
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The Eagles begin a mandatory weekend minicamp on Friday morning.
And so begins the process of answering the questions this team faces as it prepares for its first season of the post-Donovan McNabb era.
If you're wondering about the rest of the offseason schedule, the Birds have OTAs with rookies and selected vets on May 19-20 and then again on May 24-27.
Two more OTA periods for all players on June 1-4 and then again on June 7-10. And no word yet on the start of training camp.
As we wait, predict and project, here are three questions that we will begin to get answers to on Friday:
Who is healthy?
Ok, that's a general one, but let's get more specific. In my estimation there are two players whose health will go a long way in determining just how concerning this team's holes are.
The first and most obvious is Stewart Bradley. The Eagles' middle linebacker told the team's Web site yesterday that he's been cleared to practice and is "coming along great." The defense has a lot riding on Bradley's knee. Following the departure of Brian Dawkins last offseason, Bradley seemed like an obvious choice to lead the defense, but that ended when his season ended during training camp.
We've written at length about the revolving door at middle linebacker last season. If Bradley is healthy and playing at a high level, it should go a long way in filling in the gaps of this defense.
The other guy to keep an eye on is Stacy Andrews. It's unclear whether Andrews' disastrous first season in Philadelphia was due to his recovery from a knee injury, or if he had problems with the Eagles' scheme and technique. Maybe it was a combination of both. Now is his time to start proving the Birds can rely on him at right guard.
Sidenote: It was May 1, 2009 when the Eagles revealed that Shawn Andrews would get a shot at right tackle.
Where will everyone play?
The Eagles have quite a few players whose exact position is unknown. In the secondary, there's Macho Harris, Marlin Jackson, and Nate Allen. Safeties or corners? My guess, based on the players and Andy Reid's comments over the last week, would be that they'd like Allen to solidify the safety position. But we'll have to see which direction they decide to go.
Keep an eye on what roles the team envisions for guys like first-round pick Brandon Graham and fifth-rounder Ricky Sapp as well.
There will be a lot of competition, starting Friday and going all the way through the end of August when the team trims down its roster.
What impact will the new coaches have?
This one's easy to overlook, but the Eagles made some pretty significant changes to the coaching staff this offseason. Start on special teams where Bobby April takes over for Ted Daisher. April arrives with a stellar reputation, and it should be interesting to see his unusual teaching techniques, like using brooms to simulate players during drills.
The other change is with the secondary, where former head coach Dick Jauron takes over a unit that suffered from communication problems last season and underperformed. Jauron has his work cut out for him. Asante Samuel has the one corner position locked down, and you can pencil Quintin Mikell in at one of the safety positions, but beyond that, may the best men win. Don't expect the Eagles to rely less on the blitz just because they added some pass rushers in the offseason. Sean McDermott will still be sending extra guys often. They need to do a better job of getting to the quarterback when they blitz, and the secondary needs to do a better job in coverage.
Sidenote: Yesterday I did a draft wrapup video. Be sure to stand at least three feet away from your monitor, though. I'm up close and personal here.
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Kolb Show -- Dan Snyder is on medication for depression but it isn't going to help the Dedskins this year. They will come out firing and shoot their wad by Week Six. 6-10 under Shanahan and Haynesworth begging to be traded by week 3. Pick your nose over that.— Claudio Vernight
Kolb will put this team on his shoulders and bring them together. He is a natural born leader and will demand everyone to play at the same level that he plays. He is strong mentally and even if he throws 3 interceptions for TD's he will come right back down the field and throw for a TD because he's a natural leader. He will put his receiver in a position for a lot of catches this year as he throws it up for grabs into triple coverage to avoid holding onto the ball and taking sacks like that the guy in Washington did for us........Kevin Kolb my man. I'm on a horse
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"Start on special teams where Bobby April takes over for Ted Daisher. April arrives with a stellar reputation, and it should be interesting to see his unusual teaching techniques, like using brooms to simulate players during drills." Good thing they didn't draft Abner Louima.
Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow: http://www.style.org/unladenswallow— Leegles- Someone is doing serious drugs! The O-line gave Mclowthrow pleanty of time the majority of the season. Kolb played behined that line and produced better numbers than Mclowthrow. Don't give me that competition line because we got beat by the Raiders with Mclowthrow at QB. Deadskins will be luck to finish 8-8 at best. Eagles will make the playoffs!— RealFan10
- Macho does not have the speed for CB - Don't worry about Kolb and INT's - won't be any worse than the other QBs in the league - big concern at LB though— Tom Man
- I think the entire pre-season camp energy and preparation will be extremely high. Last off-season we addressed the offense and this off-season we addressed the defense. I think the off-season acquisitions will be huge. In my eyes bringing in Darryl Tapp & Ernie Sims will be HUGE. They are both great talents coming from horrible teams. I especially feel this way about Sims. You can’t tell me that playing for the Lions, who have only won 2 games the last two seasons, doesn’t bring down your desire to prepare and perform. Ernie Sims will now join a great LB group and play will without a doubt increase. This also goes for Darryl Tapp, who they brought in from Seattle….they aren’t by any means a playoff team. This and the fact that the Eagles brought in some major DE help via the trade. Tapp cannot and will not just walk into a large amount of playing time, much less a starting position. I’m anxious to see if they pencil in Nate Allen as the staring FS from the get go. My 2 concerns with the defense is will Bradley be back to 100% and the quality of CB depth. As for the offense, all the needed weapons are in place. With a young new QB starting, the play of our offensive line is critical. Many people criticized the Eagles for not drafting an offensive linemen, but I didn’t. I think even if Jamal Jackson isn’t ready for the start the season we have the needed players to step in. Between Nick Cole, Mike McGlynn and A.Q. Shipley we’ll be fine @ Center. I’m also excited to see Fenuki Tupou get some possible reps as a guard. Trust me, with Peters now playing in a system he is more familiar with & with S. Andrews preparing with a huge chip on his shoulder, our offensive line will be back to being dominate. I know just how great this offense can be as is, not to mention adding M. Bell to the RB corps and keeping high hopes for C. Ingram’s return. I truly can’t wait!— NM_fan_in_TX
- Wow check out the NEGATIVE waves from TheKolbIntereceptionMachineShow - definitely an Eagles hater - must have been on the take with McNabb - any knucklehead can criticize with meaningless arguments like this— Tom Man
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- IF: 2 of Graham, Sapp and Te'O can play @ this level, their versatility could make the Eagles one mammoth Nose Tackle away from switching to a 3-4 defensive scheme. It's becoming harder and harder to find 4 defensive linemen to play in a 4-3, as more colleges switch to 3-4 to match the talent pool. Biggest Q is Stacy Andrews - if he's 100%, and he's confident that he's 100%, and forgets about his knee and lets himself go at it, then this O-line starts the season BETTER than last yr, with more chemistry and far less concerns than last yr, even w/o JJackson. Otherwise, we have musical chairs @ RG.— montgomeryhopkins
- Mcnabb is gone crybaby, and he will never have a winning year again, the words "fade into obscurity" come to mind. Love it, no more McChoke.— kramer65
- my biggest question is whether AR will balloon up two or three more belt sizes this year. I heard they are going to use utility straps for a belt for him. MORE TACO'S PLEASE!! I heard he is working with the eagles clothing makers to come up this an eagles themed mumu. hope he doesnt wear that on the sidelines.
- call me a pesismist, but what exactly has Stewart Bradley done that makes him the savior for this football team? Yea, I know, a good MIKE linebacker is big in this league, but again I ask what has he done to even say he is that good? Let alone good enough coming off a serious knee injury that, no matter what people and Bradley says, will make him less than 100%. People are putting waaaaaaay too many eggs in Stew Bradley's basket if you ask me.— EaglesBleedMoney
- My biggest question is has Andy worked on his clock management in the off season and will the offense control the ball/clock better by using a running game? Wait!! Time out! Just saying— Lamby
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