From Starter to Street: Birds Cut Rolle
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
From Starter to Street: Birds Cut Rolle
Les Bowen
Brian Rolle started 13 games at weakside linebacker for the Eagles last season. Coaches considered him a gritty overachiever as a sixth-round draft choice from Ohio State.
But Rolle, generously listed at 5-10, lost his starting job in training camp, and never really showed his rookie tenacity when demoted to special teams. Two days after allowing the New York Giants to average 36.2 yards on six kickoff returns, the Eagles cut Rolle Tuesday, bringing back Adrian Moten, a linebacker they'd cut in the preseason. It seems pretty likely Moten's main role will be special teams, which haven't covered kicks or punts well this season.
Also returning is another 2011 Eagles sixth-round pick, offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde, who is joining the Eagles' practice squad after having been released from the Tampa Bay practice squad. Vandervelde's Eagles highlight so far is his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner before the Flight Night practice in August.
Released was longsnapper Kyle Nelson, who was on the practice squad just in case Jon Dorenbos' ankle didn't allow him to play last week.
Hmmm watched the SanFran game.....looks like their kicker kicked it out of the end zone a few times...no return....to bad we don't have a kicker like that here eh?— tsump- I hope Colt Anderson gets back to form soon. He is needed badly on special teams and is one of the few that knows how to tackle. Of course some players never fully recover from an ACL tear.— fanup
- Horst Muhlman should start at LB. Look him up, kids.— Horst Muhlman lives on in all of us
- Wow. Andy isn't kidding this year. Remember the old days when Chas Henry, Jaiquan Jarrett, and Brian Rolle used to be NFL football players?No more, if you don't produce , it's bye bye .— drbob1
- He was expendable: 1) Ryans and Kendricks are on board; 2) he is too short; 3) he couldn't make it on special teams and the entire football nation knows that the Eagles special teams need help; and,4) who cares about "the rest of the story", he simply wasn't good enough.— billtfla
- If anyone wasn't paying attention, last years' linebacker corp was a disaster. Looking good now. What surprises me is we ain't heard word one on C. matthews...is he still around or did I miss him getting cut. (by miss I mean overlook not a oh where is he sigh!)
Anybody notice Hercules er Rex Ryan cut his hair down a bit?— Prausch - Message sent. Howard Mudd will improve the line as time goes by and get the best out of what he has. i prefer King over Bell. The fireman and Todd H will do for now. How good was Jason Peters ? On defense, not much from Brandon Graham. Sometimes i think he might be a better LB in the NFL. Send Fabio packing next. Cooper, Anderson will also help on special teams. Still waiting for AR to put three good units together. Always a hole somewhere.— oldBird
- "Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated."
-Gecko to shareholders in the 1987 movie Wall Street.— sedale - "A Message Cut" to the the special teams.
Not too complicated. He was the "sacrificial lamb." More games like the Giants (special teams play) and there will be more cuts. These back-up LB's are all expendable.— FishFryFrank - Missed too many tackles and not interested in special teams. Should have kept Keenan Clayton.
Brian Rolle and Nate Allen were tagged with 10 missed tackles apiece. Among linebackers with a minimum of 50 tackles, Tampa's Quincy Black was the worst with a missed tackle rate of 17.2 percent. However, Rolle didn't qualify because he was only credited with 44 tackles. If he had been eligible, he would have been worse than Black with an 18.5 percent missed tackle rate.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/moving_the_chains/Five-Eagles-numbers-that-matter.html#ixzz28Am50B00
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else— wampwamp - This guy was their best linebacker last season.. How do you go from "How do you go from that, to on the street in months?"
Just goes to show you how "good" their linebackers were last season.
— SteveS11 - when reid told rolle he was cut,
on his way out rolle over-ran the exit door.— bloodymess - Doza4...You are such a dope, Coaches 22 film. You ever hear of it?? Probably not, nuff said.— cps147
- Good move by the coaches...last thing they need is a me-me guy...obviously they saw egregious errors by Rolle (more than one or two) on tape and he is now whacked.— BirdinParadise
- The Eagles brought in Bobby April who was supposed to be one of the best special teams coach. Since he has been here we haven't been very good on special teams. John Harbal was the last coach who had great special teams here. Reed needs to scrap Booby April off his shoes and get someone who can coach them.— Bobbyeagle
