Draft position, Steve Smith and the LBs
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Draft position, Steve Smith and the LBs
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
If you missed it from Monday, here's Man Up on the defense. I'll publish the player-by-player review of the offense later Tuesday afternoon.
In the meantime, here are some notes.
DRAFT POSITION
At 5-8, the Eagles would pick 10th overall in the first round if the season ended today. They would also have the 44th pick (their own second rounder) and the 47th pick (the second rounder from the Kevin Kolb deal).
As things currently stand, nine teams have a worse record than the Eagles. Two other teams - the Chiefs and the Bills - are 5-8, but the Birds would pick before them on account of strength of schedule.
Six teams - the Bucs, Panthers, Redskins, Jaguars, Browns and Dolphins - are all at 4-9. In other words, a lot can change in terms of draft positioning between now and the end of the season.
And if you're still wondering about what needs to happen for them to win the NFC East, click here.
STEVE SMITH ERA ENDS
The Eagles caught everyone off-guard back on August 10 when they signed free-agent wide receiver Steve Smith. At the time, Jeremy Maclin's status was uknown, but then again, so was Smith's.
The Giants clearly did not feel that Smith would be ready to play and contribute to start the season, but the Eagles felt otherwise. Yesterday, the team placed him on injured reserve.
Before last week, Smith had been active for every game. Here's a look at his snap count numbers, courtesy of Pro Football Focus:
| Week | Snap Counts |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 19 |
| 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 8 |
| 8 | 0 |
| 9 | 0 |
| 10 | 60 |
| 11 | 7 |
| 12 | 8 |
| 13 | 0 |
Initially, it seemed logical to assume Smith would start off slow, but would progress as the season went on and he recovered from microfracture surgery. But that wasn't the case. He played 19 and 14 snaps, respectively, in Weeks 2 and 3. Smith played more than 10 snaps just once after Week 4, and that was because DeSean Jackson was benched against the Cardinals in Week 10.
Overall, he was targeted 20 times and had 11 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Smith was paid a reported $2M in guaranteed money, more than three times what Jackson made this season.
Many have fairly second-guessed whether the Eagles could have better used that money on a problem area on defense, like safety or linebacker.
Rumors have already swirled that Smith could be headed back to the Giants in 2012. That is, assuming he's healthy.
ROTATING THE LINEBACKERS
The Eagles continued their linebacker shuffle Sunday. Here's a look at snap counts from the win over the Dolphins:
| Player | Snap Counts |
| Casey Matthews | 46 |
| Brian Rolle | 36 |
| Keenan Clayton | 28 |
| Jamar Chaney | 20 |
| Akeem Jordan | 20 |
What stands out? Matthews went from a short-yardage role to being on the field more than any other linebacker, as the Eagles played mostly nickel in the second half.
Rolle, who had been demoted in the nickel package, was back in there rotating snaps with Clayton.
And Chaney, who has played more snaps than any other Eagles defender besides Asante Samuel this season, was on the field for only 20 plays.
The Eagles need to figure out what they have with this group, and they clearly need to upgrade the talent in the offseason. Of course, that's been true in previous years as well.
PLAYING THE FAVORITE
The Eagles were underdogs last week in Miami and came away with a 26-10 win.
But they'll enter Sunday's game against the 8-5 Jets as the favorites. The Birds are currently 3-point favorites, according to BoDog.com and other sites.
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Making the Eagles favorites is the kiss of death. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Eagles are 1 point favs on 3 of 4 at yahoo, the 4th being bodog at -3.— mikemaddog- With Casey Matthews taking all those snaps its easy to see how bad the linebacking is on this team.He was beaten in coverage late in the game on an overthrown pass that should have been a TD.He has always projected as a special teams player,not a starter.Reid,Banner and all their minions need to be fired.— homer2811
- At this point in the season. Why not play the guys that may not be here next year. Treat then games like they are pre-season evaluation games. I see it as a way to determine exactly what needs to be addressed the first 2-3 rounds of the draft.— PhillyFanSouth
- Lines tellin me something bro!!!!— FABER
Comment removed.- it appears that Matthews is delivering an illegal hit in that picture.
his helmet is clearly hitting Moore in the facemask.
was there a penalty on that play?— ekw555 - No that was an awesome play, he blitzed clean and it was a legit, legal hit, camera angle is a little off moor is just bracing for PAIN! — tsump
- Why are the Eagles favorites against an 8-5 team? I'll take that bet.— p-diddy
- i know, right? especially when that 8-5 team has plaxico, who has had nothing but big games against us. — zwarte piet
- Draft position never matters since they can't draft to save their lives!— JBinPA
- 46 snaps...
I'm guessing he had, or was in less then 7 tackels. If anyone knows, please fill me in....Just saying— Lamby - The Tonner will take the Jets and the under tease. Money in the bank. You heard it here first. Consider it an early Christmas present from the Tonner.
- no way the giants take Smith back after that whole deal, they dont want him and are fine at WR is my guess. I cant believe the poll has more votes to try to win out, fans are that gullible. Sanchez has bad games and with Vick back the odds just swing back a bit but still surprising. Once the money starts moving closer to Sunday you will porob see that line shift. We need to lose for draft position.— peteike
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