Philadelphia Eagles: Preseason Surprises

Lets start out with the defense, where I feel the biggest obstacles lie this year…

The Eagles had the No. 3 overall defense last year, and were planning to build off of it. Then we lost a great coach, and person, in Jim Johnson. We also lost our starting MLB, and supposed new vocal leader of the defense, in Stewart Bradley…

With the departure of Dawkins, many expected third year man out of Nebraska, Stewart Bradley, to step up and fill his shoes as the vocal leader of this feared Eagles defense. His play and work ethic speaks volumes about him as a person, as well as a football player.

I have personally watched Bradley develop as a linebacker, and was truly excited to see him take over as leader for this Eagles defense… Unfortunately, that will not happen this year. About a month ago, Bradley tore his ACL, and was pronounced out for the season.

This opened the door for second year man Joe Mays as well as the previous starter, Omar Gaither, to try and win the starting job back. Neither of these players have the ability that Bradley does, but if they can fit into the scheme created by Jim Johnson (which we all know they can) the Eagles D should have plenty of success…

That brings me to my next point...

The man. The myth. The Legend. Rest in Peace, Jim. And watch over our Birds. We all wish you could have been here this year to see another Super run by our beloved Eagles. You will be missed for many, many years to come.

The passing of Jim Johnson was not a huge surprise to any of us, as we all knew he had been battling cancer for quite some time. Even when something is not a surprise, it can still have a tremendous effect on people. Johnson created the Eagles defense of the past decade.

He was responsible for drafting, trading, and grooming players to play in his scheme. He is the reason the Eagles have an eight-man defensive line rotation that continually puts pressure on quarterbacks. Jim is the reason we have such a strong secondary.

Jim Johnson IS the Eagles defense. Even though Jim has passed away, his legacy will continue to live on in Philadelphia, and around the league. Jim has mentored many coaches up through the ranks, and Sean McDermott is no different.

Hopefully Sean can continue to bring the pressure like Jim did, and also continue the successes that the Eagles have enjoyed on the defensive side of the ball over the past 5-10 years. I remember when I started being more excited by our defense than our offense, and Jim Johnson was responsible for that transition in my life.

Hopefully we can move on as an organization and continue to play solid defensive football, without deviating too much from Jim Johnson’s game plan and on-the-fly adjustment abilities.

Now let’s talk about some of the offensive challenges…

As it has been covered for many, many years, Brian Westbrook tends to be injury-prone; He misses practice most of the season, usually misses a couple of games, but still plays a major role in contributing to our offense.

After a season of nagging injuries last year, Westbrook had an off-season surgery to remove some bone spurs that were causing inflammation. Westbrook was slated to miss all of the preseason and the first couple of weeks of the regular season.

His work ethic and great physical therapy, though, has him back in the lineup, presumably for this Thursday’s contest against Jacksonville.

It should be nice to see Westy playing at game speed again, rather than in no pads playing with a soccer ball…So, inside of this ‘negative’ surprise, there is a glimpse of positivity, as we can hope Westbrook is as productive this year as he has been in years past, and that he stays healthy, too.

With the addition of Pro Bowl LT Jason Peters, Stacy Andrews, and the healthy return of Shawn Andrews, the Eagles figured to have one of (if not the) best offensive lines in all of the NFL. We are about to see the third preseason game, and all five of our starters have yet to even practice together!

Shawn Andrews is still out with discomfort in his back. These men average over 330 lbs per man, and they can all play with the best of them. Don’t be surprised to see an amazing leap forward in the offensive line toward the second half of the season.

But also don’t be surprised to see McNabb potentially on his back a lot in the first couple of weeks. It takes offensive lines some time to gel, and this one just hasn’t had its chance yet–but it will.

First round talent stolen in the fifth round. Many folks had Ingram being drafted in the first round, until he blew out his knee and tore his ACL.

The Eagles saw potential in the guy as being what LJ Smith never became, and that is a red-zone threat with great speed and amazing hands to make the plays in the end zone.

After a very impressive camp, and soon after Bradley tore his ACL, Ingram went down. He tore the ACL in the same knee that it was torn before, and now it looks like he may not be able to get back on the football field. People say that Brent Celek can handle the workload, and I agree that he can.

But its nice to have a second TE who can catch the ball. The Eagles still lack a true blocking TE.

The Eagles traded up two spots to select explosive WR/PR/KR Jeremy Maclin out of Missouri with the 19th pick. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Maclin held out looking for the right contract, and missed almost the entire training camp.

He came into the offense with a lot to learn, and was well behind the eight-ball. Watching him play so far, I have been unimpressed. He has muffed a couple of PR/KR opportunities, as well as not ran routes as well as he did in college.

I am not going to give up on this guy yet, but my expectations have dropped tremendously when compared to what I thought on draft day. Give him time, and he will learn the offense.

You cannot teach speed, and this guy has got plenty of it. DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin make for an extremely dangerous speed tandem. Throw in Curtis and we may have the three fastest WR in the league…

Now, for the couple of ‘positives’ that came out of this preseason…

Yes, he has camel casing in both of his names. Shady was drafted by the Eagles in the second round, when I was hoping they would hold out until the third and draft Shonn Greene out of Iowa.

I’m glad I don’t make the personnel decisions. McCoy is a very elusive runner, who can block, and who can catch as well. He has showcased all of these skills in the preseason, taking reps with the first team offense. Even behind a hodge-podge OL, Shady has broken some good runs and shown of his speed and cut-back abilities.

Look for McCoy to be a good handcuff option this year in fantasy, as well as watch him to see how well he develops from the back he is most often compared to–Brian Westbrook.

Being mentored by the best in the game should have a tremendous impact on how quickly and how well this guy picks up the offense, and then excels in it.

Now…I have read entire 10 page articles on Mike Vick, so I won’t go too in depth here. The signing has had reactions, positive and negative. If you look at this move from a football standpoint, it makes sense. Vick is a playmaker. He is [was?] extremely fast and always had a powerful arm.

He will not be taking much time away from McNabb right away, but will be utilized (I feel) heavily in this offense. He can line up as RB, WR, TE or QB. He always has the option to throw the ball out of the back field, or run it. That makes him dangerous, that makes the Eagles dangerous. And look at it this way…

In two years, when the Eagles inevitably let McNabb go, maybe Vick becomes our starter. Maybe McNabb teaches Vick how to settle down in the pocket and find receivers.

If you recall, McNabb was a ‘running QB’ early in his career as well. When he got a little older, a little slower, he matured into an excellent pocket passer, top five in the league. On the field, only good things can come from signing Vick.

Weaver has shown why the Eagles picked him up already this year. He is currently nursing an ACL strain, but will be in action week one. He has shown his blocking abilities, his rushing abilities, and also his receiving abilities.

This is just one more body to lead the way for Westbrook and McCoy up the middle. He also has some good speed for a big guy, which will be extremely helpful to the most effective screen-passing offense in the NFL.

With the leg speed of our OL, as well as a quick FB, the screen will be more effective than ever for the Eagles offense.

So, all in all, the Eagles preseason was more of a disappointment than it was anything positive. We lost an amazing human being, and coach in Jim Johnson. We lost good players for the year, we haven’t had time to see our OL gel together.

But my hopes are still high, and so too should yours be. This is the best offensive unit the Eagles have had since I can remember, and the defense should be almost on par with what we put out last year.

Let's hope we can bring Lombardi down Broad Street this year.