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Paul Domowitch: Eagles didn't tackle cornerback issues

I see a free-lancing cornerback on one side who has a terrific knack for intercepting passes, but is allergic to tackling and playing press coverage, and frequently got his lunch eaten on bubble screens last season.

Andy Reid believes that Asante Samuel has improved this offseason. (Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer)
Andy Reid believes that Asante Samuel has improved this offseason. (Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer)Read more

I LOOK AT the Eagles' cornerback situation and see a glass half-empty.

I see a free-lancing cornerback on one side - Asante Samuel - who has a terrific knack for intercepting passes, but is allergic to tackling and playing press coverage, and frequently got his lunch eaten on bubble screens last season as teams started noticing he was lining up in another zip code.

I see a cornerback on the other side - Ellis Hobbs - who is coming off a career-threatening neck injury and who, at just 5-9, is going to get picked on mercilessly by the rapidly growing list of land-of-the-giants wideouts in the league, including the Cowboys' 6-3 Miles Austin, 6-3 Roy Williams and now, the 6-1 1/2 Dez Bryant.

I see very little depth beyond nickel corner Joselio Hanson, who didn't play nearly as well in 2009 as he did in 2008.

And I see a recently completed draft in which the Eagles selected an Andy Reid era-high 13 players, but only one cornerback - Kentucky's Trevard Lindley - who wasn't taken until the fourth round and was the 14th corner off the board.

Reid looks at the Eagles' cornerback situation much differently than I. He looks at it and sees a glass half-full.

He sees a new and improved Samuel who supposedly has been spending much of his offseason in the weight room pumping iron and chugging protein shakes to add muscle to his scrawny frame so that he'll be able to tackle better and not get pushed into the Linc parking lot on those bubble screens.

He sees a completely recovered Hobbs who he says is tougher and more physical than people think.

And because of the versatility of safeties such as second-round pick Nate Allen and Marlin Jackson and Macho Harris, he sees more than enough depth at the position.

"Allen's a guy who can play either corner or safety for us,'' Reid said. "Jackson can play corner or safety. Macho, the same way. We have enough guys in there who we feel are good caliber players with some experience that can help us out of those spots.

"It gives us a little flexibility there if we need an extra corner or nickel. It's a little bit like what we do with the offensive line. I think we are fully loaded there now. We can do some things.''

I'm not sure I buy the comparison, though, between versatile offensive linemen and versatile defensive backs.

While it's hardly a piece of cake for a guy like Todd Herremans to slide over from left guard to left tackle and switch from blocking a 310-pound defensive tackle to a 270-pound edge rusher, I like his chances of success a lot more than a 'tweener safety/corner with 4.6 speed trying to cover somebody like Austin or the Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald or the Patriots' Randy Moss.

As a third or fourth corner in nickel or dime packages, sure. But if Hobbs gets hurt again or Samuel gets KO'd from a game because of his poor tackling technique, do you really want a 'tweener on the outside?

"It's OK if they're good,'' Reid said. "And we think these guys are. Jackson's already done it. He's shown he can play corner and be successful there. He's played nickel and been very successful there. And he played safety [for the Colts] after [Bob] Sanders got hurt and was very successful there, too.''

Jackson, who was the Colts' first-round pick in 2005, was drafted as a cornerback, but made eight starts at free safety during the Colts' Super Bowl season in '06 after Sanders injured his knee. He was moved back to corner in '07 and started 16 games on the right side that season and seven more in '08 before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He came back from that only to tear the ACL in his left knee last year.

Reid seems reasonably confident that Jackson will be able to return this season and contribute at free safety and/or cornerback. But he also was reasonably confident last year that Stacy Andrews would be able to make a full recovery from his torn right ACL and be a 16-game starter at right guard. So, you never know.

Harris started eight games as a rookie last season, seven at free safety and one at cornerback when the Eagles opened a Week 12 game against Washington in a nickel package. He was a cornerback at Virginia Tech, but he lacks the speed to make a regular living on the outside and is better suited for safety or the slot.

Lindley doesn't have elite speed either. Ran a 4.51 in the 40 at the scouting combine in February and a 4.50 at his Pro Day workout. At 5-11 1/4 and 183 pounds, he's got a lean build and doesn't bring a lot of physicality to the position.

Bothered by a high ankle sprain much of last season, he didn't play nearly as well his senior year as he did his junior year. That, and his slow 40 times, were mainly why he fell into the fourth round after being given a mid-second round grade by the league's college advisory committee last year when he considered coming out early.

"He got banged up this year,'' Reid said. "He had a high ankle sprain and that can kind of put a damper on a college season, and that's what happened. It happened early and he never really got over it, but he didn't want to stop playing, which showed me something.''

Reid said he and general manager Howie Roseman put a lot of weight on Lindley's junior tape in evaluating him.

"There were three big-time receivers that he shut down and did a great job against,'' Reid said. "So he has a lot of potential. We'll see how he does, how he handles it here. But I think he's a good football player.''

So there you have this year's cornerbacks, ladies and gentlemen. A ballhawk who can't tackle and doesn't like to play press coverage (Samuel). An undersized guy coming off a serious neck injury (Hobbs). A rookie with durability issues and without elite speed (Lindley).

A 'tweener coming off his second ACL tear in as many seasons (Jackson) and may or may not have lost a step. Another 'tweener with so-so speed who was drafted as a corner, but was moved to safety (Harris).

On the other side of the line in 2010, a Murderer's Row list of opposing quarterbacks, including seven guys who threw at least 26 touchdown passes last season. Buckle your seat belts. If the pass rush isn't as good as Reid hopes it will be, it could be a bumpy ride.

Send e-mail to pdomo@aol.com