Outside Linebacker an Underrated Need for Philadelphia Eagles in 2015 Draft

The Philadelphia Eagles solidified the outside linebacker position this offseason, or so we thought. The team reworked Connor Barwin’s contract, ensuring the newly minted Pro Bowler will be around for a while, and re-signed Brandon Graham to start at the opposite end.

So how is it that outside linebacker is still an area of need for Philadelphia?

Because the Eagles lack established depth behind Barwin and Graham, both of whom surely won’t play every down this season, and as the old saying goes, you can never have too many pass-rushers.

The Birds don’t have nearly enough. Who would replace Barwin or Graham if one of them needed a break, let alone if they were expected to be out for an extended period of time?

2014 first-round selection Marcus Smith barely got on the field as a rookie, lining up for all of 74 snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Bryan Braman is a linebacker in name only, almost exclusively contributing on special teams. And the Eagles like Travis Long, an undrafted free agent out of Washington State, but he’s coming off a torn ACL and has never played a down in the NFL.

PLAYER	GMS	SNAPS	TKL	SK
C. Barwin	16	1,046	64	14.5
B. Graham	16	524	47	5.5
M. Smith	8	74	0	0.0
B. Braman	16	10	6	0.0
T. Long	0	0	0	0.0

That’s it. That’s the entirety of Philadelphia’s depth chart at outside linebacker heading into the draft.

Even if Smith is leaps and bounds better than he was as a rookie, even if Long is healthy and might crack the 53-man roster, it’s too important a position to leave filling the holes to chance. The Eagles absolutely must try to find a warm body in the draft.

The issue clearly hasn’t gone unrecognized by the organization. Quite a few of the Eagles’ 30 official pre-draft visitors have been pass-rushers.

Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star reported the team hosted Missouri’s Shane Ray, a near certain first-round pick who may not even be around when the Eagles are on the clock at No. 20. And according to Tim McManus of Philadelphia Magazine, UCLA’s Owamagbe Odighizuwa was also in the building, and he’s projected to go as high as Round 1 as well.

Draft insider Tony Pauline also reports Eagles reps met with Alvin Dupree at Kentucky’s pro day. Dupree is another likely first-round selection.

Notice a trend here? Not all of the outside linebackers Philadelphia has been kicking the tires on are first-round talents or close, but several are. That would seem to indicate the Eagles are strongly considering taking an outside linebacker in Round 1 for the second year in a row.

Whether it happens on Day 1 or not, the Eagles are targeting pass-rushers early in the draft, that much is evident.

Chris Szagola/Associated Press

Perhaps there’s even a certain level of distrust in Graham that’s fueling the Eagles’ search.

Graham is routinely among the NFL’s most disruptive players. He finished first at his position in PFF’s pass-rush productivity—a statistic that combines sacks, hits and hurries per number of snaps played—in 2012 and 2014. The year in between, he finished seventh, his first season after making the switch from defensive end to linebacker.

YR	GM/STARTS	TKL	SK	FF
2014	16/1	47	5.5	4
2013	16/0	19	3.0	1
2012	16/6	38	5.5	2
2011	3/0	4	0.0	0
2010	13/6	13	3.0	2

Yet Graham has never had an opportunity to be a full-time starter in the NFL. Will he feel as fresh when he’s playing 80 percent of the snaps as opposed to 40? Will he be as effective as the season marches on, or will he wear down? We simply don’t know.

The feeling here is that Graham will do fine, but some players excel in situational roles. Nobody could blame the Eagles for hedging their bets with a draft pick.

It’s not like the Eagles couldn’t use another pass-rusher to begin with. In fact, they need one. It’s not quite up there with the concerns at safety, cornerback, wide receiver or even offensive line, but if Graham falters or he or Barwin have an extended absence, outside linebacker could become a major issue for Philadelphia in a hurry.