The latest Spagnuolo/Castillo buzz
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
The latest Spagnuolo/Castillo buzz
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Time for your daily Steve Spagnuolo update.
Earlier this week, I linked to a couple national reports, which indicated Spagnuolo was high on the Falcons' wish list. Today, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Spagnuolo and Mike Nolan are the two top candidates for the Falcons' defensive coordinator opening. Per Ledbetter, Jack Del Rio, who worked with head coach Mike Smith in Jacksonville, is an unlikely option.
Nolan is currently the defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, but that could obviously change once they hire a new head coach.
Ledbetter goes as far as to say the Eagles and Falcons could end up getting in a "bidding war" for Spagnuolo.
Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero, who covers the Vikings for 1500 ESPN Radio, says he wouldn't be surprised if Juan Castillo ends up in Minnesota. Pelissero reports that Spagnuolo is a candidate for the Vikings' defensive coordinator job, but if Spagnuolo joins another team, Leslie Frazier could be interested in adding Castillo.
Writes Pelissero:
Juan Castillo has been close with Vikings coach Leslie Frazier since their days together on the Eagles' staff from 1999 to 2002. According to NFL sources, there was mutual interest in a reunion shortly after Frazier was promoted from interim coach last January, to the point Castillo told people close to him he expected to end up in Minnesota.
Per the report, the Vikings have not officially fired current defensive coordinator Fred Pagac, but he is not expected to be back.
It's worth noting how many of the different openings are related. Jeff Fisher is still deciding between St. Louis and Miami. Will he want Jim Washburn back? What will he do at defensive coordinator? What will the team that loses out on Fisher do - both at head coach and defensive coordinator? Where will Spagnuolo land? Those are some of the questions we're still waiting for answers to.
Update: According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Fisher has chosen the Rams.
THE WIDE-9 AND THE ZONE BLITZ
On several occasions, we've discussed the possibility of Spagnulo's defensive philosophy meshing with Washburn's outlook up front. I've maintained throughout that the wide-9 was successful in 2011, and the Eagles' best option would be to keep Washburn to work with Spagnuolo, if both sides are open to the idea.
One of the main philosophical differences relates to the zone blitz and dropping defensive linemen back into coverage.
I took a look at numbers from Pro Football Focus to highlight how Washburn and Spagnulo used their defensive linemen last season. Below is a table that lists how many times each Eagles defensive lineman dropped back into coverage in 2011:
| Player | No. of times dropping back |
| Trent Cole | 11 |
| Cullen Jenkins | 3 |
| Jason Babin | 2 |
| Juqua Parker | 2 |
| Darryl Tapp | 2 |
| Phillip Hunt | 2 |
As you can see, Cole was the only defensive lineman who dropped back into coverage more than three times all season. Babin, the defensive end on the other side, only dropped back twice.
Meanwhile, here's a look at the same numbers from the Rams defensive linemen:
| Player | No. of times dropping back |
| James Hall | 50 |
| Chris Long | 19 |
| C.J. Ah You | 16 |
| Robert Quinn | 8 |
| Eugene Sims | 7 |
| Fred Robbins | 3 |
| Justin Bannan | 2 |
| Dorell Scott | 1 |
It's worth noting that Long dropped back into coverage far less than he did the previous season. In 2010, he did so 51 times.
According to Football Outsiders, only two teams ran zone blitzes more often than the Rams in 2010. We'll have to wait to see what their numbers tell us about Spagnuolo's defense in 2011, but the numbers above provide a starting point.
You can follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
If RYAN GRIGSON is such a good talent evaluater,why did they let him go, and keep home boy ROSEMAN? The right thing to do would have been to keep GRIGSON and let ROSEMAN go. It shows that LURIE has no concern for the fans, except to pocket their money. NEW OWNERSHIP!!! MAYBE THE PHILLY FANS CAN BUY THE TEAM,SUCH AS GREEN BAY HAS DONE.— tudj- Andy will drag his feet until Spags gets tired of waiting and signs with the Falcons. This will then give Andy the excuse he needs to say that Juan is his only option. The non-caring Billionaire Owner upon hearing this, will shrug his shoulders and say, "OK"! Expect more of the same, 2nd tier football in 2012. Also expect a smallish, High Motor Defensive End to be the #1 pick for Howie, the Accountant.— younged
- I think you are right about Andy dragging his feet on this. He doesn't want to admit he made a mistake because in his mind he does not make any. — coloradoeagle
- DON'T BE SO SURE— Pete60
- More meaningless speculation calling itself reporting!— BEMiller
- I'm going to start banging the drum for it right now..whether we get Spags or not we need a solid MLB and the Rams need a playmaking WR..How about Desean to the Rams for Laurinaitis?He's hard nosed, instinctive and young..We get rid of a potential headache and address the LB position..Use one of the incoming high 2's on a WR..Maybe we can get the Rams 6th in the trade and Howie can draft Teo-Nesheim II— PhillyMike5959
- Walt:
I had the exact same thought. Reid and Rivers will win a SB.— Penfold18 - No FLETCHER! DRAFT 1 of the 'Bama LB's! & then take Burfict in round 2! First 2 rounds LB's!!— ChangeISNeeded
- My guess is Spags will not come to Philadelphia; because Reid will want to keep Castillo because he's one of Andy's boys. The possibility that Castillo might go to Minnesota can't come fast enough for me. That graphic on dropping back into coverage (where do they come up with these stats?), if taken for what it's worth, shows that the Eagles D-Line is a bunch of blitz-happy nuts who know only to rush the QB, and cannot cover even the world's slowest tight end. The Wide 9 is a failure, folks...do a standard 4-3 and get a solid MLB. Burfect would be great, and a personality like his makes for an automatic team leader; something the Eagles don't have on D right now.— MidStaterUXB
- please get rid of castillo. and leslie frazier is even considering hiring castillo as his new d-coordinator he should be fired now. castillo has no business on the defensive side of the ball, none.— psualum
- I wrote in a post two weeks ago that the major difference between the two systems is the dropping back the DE in the zone blitz schemes. Glad to see after 400 articles mentioning that Spags can't work with the wide 9, a reporter finally did something as crazy as providing an explanation why. Way to be on top of it. But still, considering the resources at your disposal, it's still weak. Did Spags really drop guys like Strahan, Tuck, and OSi into coverage as much as this terrible Rams team? DE and DT accounted for almost 40 of 52 sacks in 2007 Super Bowl year. Were they able to accomplish this and drop into coverage a bunch or did he run a different formula with that group of talent? From the outside without a paid subscription to Pro Football Focus, it looks like he didn't blitz the Cb and Safeties as much, which is when the principle of dropping back DE kicks in but instead used LB blitzes(LB's had 10 sacks) probably because he had quality LB talent. Remebr that the Eagles under Johnson liked to use the Zone blitz so they could blitz one of the all-time great blitzing Safeties in Dawkins but Johnson had a lot more blitz schemes going than that. Wouldn't a blitz scheme using the Wide 9, spreading the tackle wide and also the help most tackles need handling Babin and Cole, leave the middle open for LB's blitzing up the gut? Wouldn't this also be an effective scheme against the run, becoming a defacto run blitz clogging up between the tackles(assuming the Eagles draft a real Middle LB in the 1st rd, i know a big assumption) Is Spags such a one trick pony that he wouldn't want the schemes he runs to fit the talent he has on his roster? Point is, what did he do with the Giants when he had a ton of talent at DE?— UncleStosh
- Spags, Burfict, a safety and some o line....we'll be fine.....if that happens, that is— flyfightinbullies
- Philadelphia Titanics— Ace-Philadelphia
- Philadelphia Titanics— Ace-Philadelphia
- Philadelphia Titanic(s)— Ace-Philadelphia
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
