Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp Coming Soon: 80 Players, 80 Questions/Speculations

Here we are, less than three weeks away from the Philadelphia Eagles taking over the sports headlines until hopefully early February.

The trade for Chris Pronger, the inconsistency of the World Series Champs, whatever happens to Andre Miller. All of these topics will take the backseat to anything that transpires at Lehigh University.

Last week, I expressed my opinion about Terrell Owens not being the reason the Eagles reached the Super Bowl for the first time in almost a quarter century. He made humungous contributions, but he was far from being the only reason for 2004’s success.

What T.O. did bring was an electric atmosphere from the day the Eagles front office announced his trade.

From the draft of Donovan McNabb over Ricky Williams to Jeremiah Trotter’s departure for Washington to Hugh Douglas’ hiatus in Jacksonville, people felt the Eagles front office didn’t know how to assemble a winning team.

After Todd Pinkston’s embarrassment in the Bird’s third straight NFC Championship loss, the city was fed up. For the first time during the Andy Reid era, Eagles fans felt like the front office finally listened by bringing Owens in.

For the first time since then, I feel the Eagles front office addressed the majority of their holes.

They have a real fullback. Their receiving corp is respectable. They even signed quality players to replace those we hated to see depart this offseason(Brian Dawkins, Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan).

The Eagles have replaced a little hope with huge expectations. After reaching the NFC Championship for the fifth time in eight years, it’s “hoist the Lombari Trophy or Bust” in 2009.

Being an August Leo, I’ve made it a tradition since 2004 to celebrate my birthday by traveling up the Northeast Extension, over to Route 309 and north some more every year to observe the Eagles during training camp.

This is the first glimpse of who can take a hit and who can deliver a hit. While I like to see the stars get back in rhythm, I also like to predict which low draft or undrafted player is going to make it (last year I picked King Dunlap).

Going into training camp this year, I have questions/expectations for each player. The Eagles may get involved in the Supplemental Draft. They may sign another player soon. They may even make a trade. For now, let’s look at the 80 players they have now.

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