Eagles have no answers for yearning questions

A NYONE WHO thinks they have a good feel for how this Eagles team stacks up against the rest of the league probably hasn't spent enough time thinking about it. All it took was a leisurely stroll around the locker room at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday morning to drive that reality home.

For the first time since Doug Pederson replaced Chip Kelly as head coach, the Eagles' roster - except for defensive end Fletcher Cox - was in one place at one time. In a lot of ways, it was like the first day of orientation at a new job. In other words, it was a bad time to start asking the grunts questions about the finer points of day-to-day operations. The phrase of the day: "I don't know." And, really, nobody does, first and foremost those of us who have spent the past few months trying to project what lies in store for this team in the season ahead.

As he stood at his locker, Malcolm Jenkins reminded us on several different occasions that all of this is new for him too (and, on several different occasions, we rephrased our questions with the hope that he would suddenly find some answers).

"The first thing we're going to have to identify - and, again, it won't be until training camp or preseason games - is can we generate pressure with four men?" the safety said.

That's about as fundamental an issue as there is for a defense, and the fact that a heady, veteran player such as Jenkins is unable to project it out should underscore how little any of the rest of us know. No doubt, there was an undercurrent of optimism as he talked, which never comes as a surprise this time of year.

But the reality is, nobody has any idea how, exactly, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's 4-3 front will, to borrow a phrase from the last guy, express itself through the Eagles' personnel. Or, perhaps more accurately, nobody knows how the Eagles' personnel will express itself through Schwartz's scheme. There's a reason we spent so much time the last few years debating the chicken-and-egg question of playcalling vs. talent. In 2013, Pederson's first year in Kansas City, he watched Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton lead a team that went 2-14 the previous season to an 11-5 record. The whole players-vs.-scheme question is even more of an unknown in the Eagles' situation, given the radical departures they are expected to take from the systems run by Kelly and Bill Davis.

As Jenkins noted, first among the questions is how will Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin adjust to life with their hand in the dirt presnap after three years at outside linebacker? Neither player is regarded as the kind of edge rusher who can consistently disrupt opposing backfields. But, then, neither was Jason Babin before he started playing in the Wide 9.

The second biggest question happens to fall at the second most critical position (or, arguably, first most). At the moment, the Eagles have Nolan Carroll and Eric Rowe as their projected starting cornerbacks. While Howie Roseman made a rational decision to rid himself of Byron Maxwell's contract when provided the opportunity, the fact is the Eagles have not replaced Maxwell with any surer of an option in either Rowe or veteran signee Leodis McKelvin. Along with wide receiver and running back, you can argue that the Eagles have three positions where they would not be able to field a full depth chart if the season were to start before next week's draft.

The sheer lack of volume makes it difficult to believe that there is any actual fire at the source of the smoke that continued to billow out of nationally televised orifices Tuesday regarding the Eagles' alleged attempts to trade up to No. 2 to draft a quarterback. While drafting to fill a need is never a good idea, needing to fill a draft is a basic one.

If the Eagles were to give up three extra picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts to facilitate such a move, how, exactly, would they add the players their new quarterback would need to have a fighting chance at success? Such a deal could potentially leave them with just a third-rounder this year and a second-rounder next year to address the gaping holes they have at the top of the depth chart at running back, cornerback and wide receiver, not to mention the offensive line.

Trading for a quarterback would significantly reduce the odds of successfully upgrading at least one, likely two, and perhaps all of the aforementioned areas through the draft, threatening to exacerbate the talent death spiral that began with their 2010 and 2011 crop failures (2012 is still TBD, save for Cox).

But where were we . . .

Right, nobody knows anything. About the scheme. About the depth chart. About the coach. That's not necessarily a bad thing, unless you came here hoping for something concrete. In which case, check back in five months.

@ByDavidMurphy

Blog: philly.com/Philliesblog