Ryans' role as a leader
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Ryans' role as a leader
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
About 30 minutes into Tuesday's practice, Bobby April gathered the troops to run through special teams.
Those players who were not involved waited on the sidelines. But back in one end zone was DeMeco Ryans, talking things through with Juan Castillo.
My guess is you'll see a lot written about Ryans this summer - both locally and nationally. He's expected to solidify a linebacking corps that has been unable to get it right over the years. Some of the faces have changed, but for the most part, the results have stayed the same.
Ryans will also be expected to be a leader. He'll make calls, advise some of his younger teammates like rookie Mychal Kendricks and communicate with Castillo about what's working, and more importantly, what's not working.
To really fill that leadership void, Ryans needs to stay on the field for all three downs. At the OTA sessions I've attended, he's been one of the first-team nickel linebackers, alongside Kendricks. And I'm sure Andy Reid and Castillo prefer that he stays there. But he'll have to prove he can cover. If Ryans can't do that, and is replaced in sub packages, it'll be a whole lot tougher to fill that leadership role.
Here are some other observations from today:
* Not only did the Eagles add depth along their defensive line this offseason, but they got considerably younger. If all goes according to plan, Brandon Graham (24), Fletcher Cox (21) and Vinny Curry (23) will anchor the defensive line for years to come. They all need to prove themselves, but if they meet expectations, they'll be in place to take over for veterans like Jason Babin (32), Cullen Jenkins (31), Mike Patterson (28) and Trent Cole (29), whenever those guys start to decline.
* One player who is tough to figure out is Clay Harbor. Will the Eagles' No. 2 tight end be more involved in the passing game in 2012? Or could be be fighting for a roster spot at Lehigh? Right now, the most likely scenario is probably for him to fill the same role as last season. But Harbor is a player to watch up at Lehigh.
* With DeSean Jackson not at OTAs this week, Riley Cooper is getting more reps with the first team. I looked up Cooper's numbers in the three games last year where he played more than 50 percent of the team's offensive snaps and was surprised to see that they were pretty good. Cooper averaged 80 receiving yards per game against the Giants, Patriots and Seahawks. I'll have to take a closer look at my notes to see if those were garbage yards or if Cooper really played well when given the chance.
* Jonathan Tamari over at Birds' Eye View had an interesting post on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie today. Teammates are raving about how he's looked at OTAs. But I'm completely on board with Jon's point about how these "passing camps" are perfectly suited for Rodgers-Cromartie's skills.
While he certainly played better on the outside last season, the enduring images, for me at least, are of Rodgers-Cromartie missing tackles and being careless. Remember, even though he was only 25 and had made a Pro Bowl, the Cardinals were willing to include Rodgers-Cromartie in the Kevin Kolb deal. It'll now be up to new secondary coach Todd Bowles to get the most out of the speedy cornerback, who is entering the final year of his contract.
* In case you missed it from earlier, here's What they're saying about the Eagles.
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I would have been fine if you held off on submitting your Cooper item until after you looked at your notes (or even better, looked at some game tape), rather than a "this might be completely wrong, but..." blurb.— bc3030- You do realize this is a blog post right? — mx55
- DRC has not demonstrated that he is a player who likes contact or has a long attention span. I would like to be pleasantly surprised by his play. I am skeptical.— johnny eagle
- DRC and Macklin are going to be great this year...Its a contract year, so you can count on them showing up to play!— johnGiam
- DRC cant make a tackle. hope for the best but im still skeptical— Natural215
- He's replacing Samuel, so it's a tackling upgrade. If you want to worry, you should be worrying about the importance of those INTs Samuel racked up. — bc3030
Why is he wearing a visor on top of a helmet?- Because Venus is passing in front of the sun today.— mets_collapse_is_funny_to_me
- actually emulating coach Juan - thats where he keeps his play sheet— raoool
- Coleman can tackle, but Coleman can not defend nor catch blazing receivers of which there are a few in the division. It's more important that DRC can shadow receivers than stop the sweep. His money is going to be earned down field. Your safeties are for tackling and that's where the concern should be focused.
Dion Sanders couldn't tackle, but he has managed to retrive a super bowl ring and a bust in the Hall of Fame.— Dexter - cooper can play— sore richard
- I think we can all agree that Riley Cooper is horrible.— guyguy4
- Cooper (my take): His numbers were bloated when Vince Young was behind center. Young had built up some chemistry with Riley from his time with the #2s. He was locked in and forcing throws in his direction like he was Fitzgerald (think Seattle game). So Cooper put up some decent numbers. No other QB would have forced the ball into those tight windows with Maclin, Jackson, Celek, or Avant as options. Cooper didn't bail out his QBs after they made those throws. Vick's interception against GB in the 2011 playoffs is an example. He never became the defender and prevented the interception. Horrible quality to have for a tall WR without separation type route running or exceptional speed.— cetst11
- cets11:Cooper has played well when given the opportunity...He uses his big body well on slant and crossing routes, and simply needs more reps. His 4.5 speed is actually a plus for a 223 lb WR.— bearsfriend
- Some of you are wrong about Cooper. Eagles haven't figured out how to use him, and guarantee if he goes to another contending team, he will be a valuable receiver. cetst11, you and some others seem to forget that Cooper kept that drive against Green Bay alive by coming back and making a diving catch that was poorly underthrown by Vick. Thats how they got downfield. And they interception your talking about, that was underthrown also. If Vick would have led him into the corner of the end zone, its a TD. Here's a direct quote from Vick to prove my point."I feel like I got greedy and took a shot at the end zone," Vick said about his last pass. "I didn't throw the ball I wanted and got picked. It's not the way I wanted to go out, but I went down swinging. I have to learn from it."— watsonmr
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